The Rising Dawn 3
by Failure007
Summary: CaradonCorius is dead but what about his rival? Mr Owston isnt one to sit around when opportunity arises,what trouble will he cause,how will our alchemistchimera friends deal with latest plan that crosses everyline of human cruelty to get what he wants?
1. Chapter 1

Howdy people! Well here it is! the final story of The Rising Dawn. ENJOY IT OR ELSE!!! JK

* * *

It had been four months since the death of Caradon Corius and everything had settled as normal as anyone could imagine it possible. Nothing dangerous or anything to that nature was going on to make the military a busy place so the alchemist trio was able to spend most of their time at Yoyo manor. The three of them had added a few new rooms to the house so Ed and Al could spend the night without having to sleep on a couch and a few extra just as an excuse to get a few fancy vases and such.

Ren and his group had been given an old warehouse to patch up and use to continue their animal research. Since some of their best friends were alchemists the _patching up_ part didn't take more than a few minutes. Within a month the group was back to where they left off and some amazing progress had been made.

Annie's parrot, Wonder was showing signs of what a human would consider intelligence with words instead of just repeating them from memory and not knowing what the heck it was saying. In fact you had to be careful what you said around it. You say something weren't supposed to and it could repeat what was said and who said it.

Lame had gotten four horses, two Clydesdales and two thoroughbreds. Boy and girl of each. He was planning on crossbreeding them and observing which offspring had stronger features, the one whose father was a Clydesdale and the mother a thoroughbred, or the father was a thoroughbred and the mother a Clydesdale. If there didn't seem to be much difference he'd try a different breed. Since he was part horse himself he gained the horses trust unbelievably quick.

* * *

"Dixie! It's fall, put on a sweater."

"Kun! PHHhhtt!"

"Oh you're back talking me? I'm not gonna take that off a squirt like you." Clen playfully teased and chased Dixie outside and around the house. "Somebody catch the pipsqueak."

"GAAAHHhh!" Ed came out of nowhere and completely pile-drived Clen. "WHAT DID YOU SAY!!!!" He screamed, nearly breaking the cat boys arm.

"No, wait, wait! I was, OUCH! I was talking about Dixie!!!"

Ed disappeared faster than you could blink.

* * *

"Hey bother, you're redder than your coat if it had a sunburn, what happened?"

"None of your business." Edward mumbled, not really wanting to repeat what _had_ just happened.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes!!!" Brody came zipping through the living room doing an extremely happy dance. "We got it, we got it we finally got it!"

"What do we finally got?" Steve asked, coming down the stairs.

"The chandelier I wanted!!!" he spun around three times and punched the air.

"He's been wanting that for months." Luke briefly explained.

"Come on people, clear the room." Brody started giving everyone light pushes to make them move.

"Oh sure, nobody bother to help me. My backs busted but I'm fine. I'm sure nobody cares if this cripples me!"

(pause) "Chanticleer's carrying your precious chandelier isn't he?"

"Oh yeah, oops! The door's closed too."

The twins went to the door to help their friend who was clearly in a tiny bit of distress. Chanticleer kicked the door twice to imply he wanted in.

"Who's there?"

"In pain."

"In pain who?"

"In pain and willing to share it with anyone who doesn't let me in!"

"I don't know Luke, that wasn't very funny."

"Yeah I've heard better."

"OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR!!!!"

"Ok, ok don't be so snappy."

Lucus opened the door and gave The Dawn a little help with a large box he was carrying on his back.

"Fraaa-geee-ile. Hmmm, must not be English."

"Shut yer yap and give me a little more help than you are."

"Why? You're muscle tone could use a little work."

"This is very heavy so don't make me ask again."

Luke shrugged before taking a corner of the box. "At least he's lifting with his legs."

It took about twenty minutes to get the crystals hooked on to the main frame of the chandelier, between Brody wanting it to be done faster and Dixie running off with the crystals. At about that time Annie, Ren and Lame had come home from a day at the lab.

"So watcha doing?" Ren asked.

"Trying to catch your sister." Clen said. "She took off with another crystal from Brody's chandelier and that's the last one."

"How are you going to get on the ceiling?" Annie asked, Wonder on her shoulder.

"Um. Oh boy, this is going to take longer than I hoped it would." Al said sighing.

Chanticleer went to Annie and gave her a small kiss. "So, how was your day?"

"WHOA! Squark! Chanty an' Annie sittin' in a tree, SQUARK!!"

The twins snorted a laugh that sounded like it hurt. In fact it did. The snorting died and the two of them held their noses. "Oh ow!"

"Kun! (giggle)"

"I think I know a way we can light that thing." Ren said.

"Yeah, hook it up to a light switch and…"

"No, I mean a more efficient way." He was starting to look excited. "We may have to take that apart and make a few adjustments to make it work well but-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'TAKE IT APART'????" Ed exploded. "We get this project nearly complete and you want us to-!" He was silenced by Steve.

"Just hear what he has to say. His idea may be worth taking it apart, go ahead, Ren."

Now Ren was _really_ getting excited, like he something important to tell and didn't want to wait another minute to tell it. You could easily read his excitement, not just from his expression but the glowing firefly whatever on his back was blinking. From his backpack he pulled a vial containing a pale green liquid and held it out proudly.

"He's been working on this for a few days now." Lame said smiling.

"So what is it?" Goxlin the Bat slowly made his way down the stairs. He'd been having a bit of sinus trouble and had been in bed most of the day.

"_This_," Ren said proudly. "Is the breakthrough of my work."

"Kun? What is it big bwother?"

"Watch this."

He shook the bottle violently then gave it to her. After the liquid settled it began glowing! It started as a pale light then the entire substance was glowing an eerie green.

"How did you do this?" Mark breathed.

"I was able to locate and isolate the gene that makes a firefly glow, after that it was mostly a matter of duplicating it and injecting it in other substances. In this case it was just water but it reacts when shaken."

"So when you say inject, what do you plan on inject_ing_?" Clen asked.

"I dunno, maybe plants or other small insects. First I'll try to find a way to change the color, right now all it comes in is that green/yellow green, and I don't think anyone wants a beautiful chandelier to shine green."

"Yeah, that would make the room look weird." Annie said, stroking Wonder. "Kinda like the twins."

"Oh, burn."

Luke and Lucus looked at her with huge watery chibi eyes.

"(sniff) You didn't really mean that did you?"

"(sniffle) My feelings, I need a doctor, my feelings hurt."

* * *

Chibi me – Yeah so? I can do that too. (big watery eyes)

Me – Oh shut yer yap. You **_are_** a chibi, everybody knows chibi's have big cute eyes. Go check to see if Ed is outside. I want to know if it's safe to go out yet. (if you need to know what I'm referring to read, The Milk Gag)

Chibi me – I doubt that it will be safe for a long while.

Me – Why?

Chibi me -Because I taped that picture you drew of me to the wall, facing out….

Me – Picture…? (GASP!) You mean the one of you fishing?!?!

Chibi me – yep.

Me – for those you don't know, (which is everybody who reads this but one person) I drew Chibi fishing and Ed was tied to the hook….along the side I wrote, "Theory Tested and Proven: Shrimp **_DOES_** Bring in the Bigger Fish." Now if you excuse me I need to write my will.

Chibi me – Does this mean I get to read the preview? (watery chibi eyes and the lip tremble thing)

Me – oh fine.

Chibi me – YAY! The alchemist trio goes back to Central to hear some interesting news, some kid came in the previous night ranting and raving about what the soldiers see as nonsense and he refuses to completely explain what he's talking about to anyone but a high raking military official.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Ed, Al and Chanticleer were going to return to Central that night but a huge storm rolled in out of nowhere and none of them had any desire to be outside when the only way to get back to Central was to ask directions from a fish because it was raining so hard. The crashing thunder and blinding lightning scared Dixie so she hid her head in her brothers arms. Gox didn't have a problem with the lightning but since his hearing had improved the thunder gave him a headache on top of a sinus headache.

"It's ok, Dixie." Ren cooed to her. "Lightning is nothing to be afraid of. In fact, do you know what lightning is?" Still holding him tightly Dixie shook her head. "Lightning is when God lets his fireflies come out to play. The light you see is them blinking because they're happy."

She looked up at him. "Like you?"

"Uh, yeah, like me."

"God gots firefwise like my big bwother?"

"Yeah, only they're _really_ big."

The little fox girl sat up on her brothers lap, content with the reason and no longer afraid of lightning…but then thunder crashed and she snuggled back into him.

"That's all right, Dixie. Thunder isn't anything you need to be afraid, its just a sound." Mark said. "It can't hurt you."

"But it's loud! Kun!"

"But it's just God playing the drums."

"God pways drwums?"

"Sure, like I do. You're not afraid when I play loud are you?"

"No."

Mark picked up his drumsticks (whenever he mentioned 'drumsticks' lately Chanty told him to quit thinking about touching his legs. It ended up with him getting hit over the head and told to shut up but it got a good chuckle out of whoever heard it.) and started crashing on his drums that was so loud it drown out the thunder. Upstairs Gox had his pillow over his ears in desperation that the noise would stop.

_Note to self: If the headache doesn't kill you come morning, make sure to kill Mark._

* * *

"At times like this I wouldn't mind being part frog, or salamander." The Fullmetal said, squishing the soggy ground with is foot. "Chanty, what are you doing?"

The Dawn clapped a transmutation circle to the moist earth and from it grew a willow dryad. Chanty climbed her hair like a rope and invited the Elric brothers to do the same. Feeling like the prince from Rupunzel they grabbed a handful of branches and once they were comfortable and secure the dryad lifted her roots/feet from the ground and started making her way to Central.

Once there the dryad went lifeless and the trio went through the gate, puddles were everywhere. Jean Havoc was having a smoke and waved them over.

"You three might want to report to the Colonel right away."

"Why? We do something without permission and he wants to make sure we know it?" Ed said, trying to think of anything Mustang would want them for.

"No, that's not it at all."

"Then what's wrong?" Al asked. "If we didn't do anything that would need reporting why does he want us?"

"Actually he doesn't but it's just a friendly suggestion."

"Friendly suggestion?" Al questioned.

"Yeah, while you guys were gone during that storm some kid was making a ruckus at the gates. I didn't hear exactly what he was saying but he was beating the gates with a pipe screaming about something. He's been confined I hear but when questioned about why in the world he disturbed the beauty sleep of everyone at Central he refused to tell. Something about how he was only going to speak to someone of authority."

The three alchemists looked at each other.

"Ya think if Mustang gives us permission we could talk to the kid and try to help him with his problem, maybe then he'd talk." Edward said.

"Never hurts to try." Chanty said nodding. "Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem." Havoc saluted then went back to his cigarette.

* * *

"Yes, there was quite the uproar last night." Mustang sat back in his chair. "A kid was pounding on the gates yelling that he needed in and he needed to talk to someone in high authority. His tone was like a mix of madness and fear. We had him confined in case this entire ordeal was just a drunken outburst to sober up overnight." He sighed and laid his elbows on his desk with his chin in his hands. "I'm hoping that he didn't say what I thought he did."

"What was that, sir?"

"Amidst the yelling and slurring of words I thought I heard, Owston."

"What's the significance of that word?" The Fullmetal asked.

Mustang explained to them about Mitsuku Owston and how he wasn't much different from Caradon. "If that is what he said then there may be trouble. Now that he no longer has a rival that can steal his work or offset his plans he can go full out with chaos because, besides the military, whose attention will he risk getting?"

"He doesn't have to worry about Caradon getting in the way and is confident the military can't catch him." Chanticleer mused. "Could the Fullmetal and myself talk to him? As State Alchemists me might listen to us and if Mitsuku is involved we could call up an investigation or check into it ourselves."

The Colonel nodded. "Go ahead and find out as much as you can, but try not to make too many big promises."

* * *

In the confinement chambers Ed fumbled to find the right key.

"No, he said it was the one with the jagged teeth, but there's three of them."

"Oh give me that." Chanticleer swiped the key ring and held it above his head while Ed was trying to jump and reach it. "It's this one, now was that so hard?"

"Oh shut it."

"How can I shut it? I haven't even opened it yet"

(anime vein) " I was referring to your mouth not the door."

Inside the alchemists were surprised; when they had heard 'kid' they expected someone of like 10-15 but this guy looked like he was pushing early to mid twenties. When they entered he looked up and his expression turned cold. Ed couldn't help but notice how scared he looked, but it was obvious it wasn't from being locked up.

"If you're just more soldiers coming in to tell me I'm crazy just shove off now 'cause I'm not telling you nothin'!" He snapped.

"Hey chill, we're not here to say your crazy, we weren't even here last night." Chanticleer said. "We're State Alchemists and we want to help."

"How do I know you're not just saying that so after I tell you what I have to say you can just throw it back at me and say it's a load of nonsense?"

"Believe me," the Fullmetal said. "We've had more than our share of bizarre encounters so we'll believe just about anything." He made a gesture toward Chanty. "Take him for example, he's one of those more bizarre encounters I've come across, show him your feathers."

The Dawn scowled at being called a 'bizarre encounter' but he took off his gloves and pulled his feathers from his shirt.

The guy looked the feathers that fanned out from behind Chanty's shoulders. "What's your name?" he asked.

"I'm Chanticleer Ranora, The Dawn Alchemist."

"And who's he?" he looked at Ed. "Your son?"

……….

……….the two of them went paler that spilled milk on snow.

"How old do you think I am!!??"

"How _young_ do you think **_I_** am?!?!" Ed pretty much detonated. He wasn't sure to be horrified at the question or angry because it could be taken that he looked like a child compared to his friend.

"Well, you do look kinda young and he's so tall, I just thought-"

Chanticleer almost had his arms ripped out of their sockets from trying to hold Ed back.

"I'M FIFTEEN AND HE'S NINETEEN!!!!!!"

"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry!!"

"Um, this is Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist. And if you don't have a serious will to die don't mention his height." Just to be safe Chanty whispered the last part. "So now you know us, who are you?"

He hesitated a minute before answering. "My name is Ian."

"Will you please tell us what the fuss was about last night?"

Again he hesitated before answering. "I will." He whispered. "But tell me this first…do either of you have a brother?"

"Yeah, we're both the eldest." Ed piped in, all heated feelings melting away like butter on a corncob after hearing that question.

"Ok," Ian whispered again. "It will make telling you this a lot easier."

* * *

Me- Sooooo…

Chibi me – A NEEDLE PULLING THREEEEAD!

Me – Oh zip it.

Chibi me- Hey! We're one in the same and you can sing great! Remember that girl at church after your special music song that wanted your autograph? I can sing just as well as you so why are you telling me to zip it!?"

Me – I'm telling you to zip it because you interrupted the preview.

Chibi me – oh…(goes red and slinks away)

Me – This guy, Ian, what frightening news doth he bring? Did Mustang actually hear the name Owston mentioned or are we going to be relieved to know it was just a slur of words? There I go again. (snaps fingers) I keep putting questions into the preview! Oh well, you've heard enough anyway.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

Like Ed & Chanty, Ian was the eldest of two children. He was twenty-one and his brother, Einon, eighteen. Their mother died giving birth to the third child but neither of them survived. From then on it was the two of them helping their grieving father, Davian.

The two of them grew up being quite the scavengers, being able to find just about anything if they looked hard enough, especially loose change or anything that could bring in a few dollars. No one in the family believed in reincarnation but even their father agreed that the pair must have been either crows or magpies in a past life. If it had even the slightest shine they were all over it. Whether it was spare coins or discarded items that weren't completely worn out the brothers could find it, clean it up and their father could patch it up if need be. Between Davian finding cheap work wherever they went and the sons bringing in little oddities that could be sold the three were pretty well off.

Until _it _happened…

Traveling on foot from one town to another as they usually did, an unsuspected disaster awaited them. The city was a prosperous one and Davian's last boss suggested that he go there to be able to provide better for his sons. They were less than a half-mile away and the city was beautiful, until it greeted them with angry growls and snarls.

An abandoned, starving dog was searching for food outside the towns gate, and it found them. Their father gave Einon his waling stick and told him not to hesitate to jam it down the mutts throat if it got too close. Only ten, Einon gripped the rod or pretty much dear life, afraid of just the idea the dog _might_ attack…it did.

Shielded by their father the three of them continued to the city, trying to veer around the dogs path. They couldn't, it followed, snarling and hackles raised. Ian pulled out the pocketknife he'd found and had it at the ready if he needed it.

He would. The dog charged, driven completely mad with hunger.

Pushing the boys behind Davian pulled out a carving knife he kept in a sheath on his boot, poised to attack. But the attack from the dog was indirect, it knew their father was well armed and strong, it was aiming at those weak and vulnerable. Their dad went to slash its shoulder but the aim was poor, the animal was turning in its charge so not near as much skin had been broken. But it was enough to totally tick it off. With eyes nearly flaming red with madness it attacked Davian. He slashed at it several more times but regrettably none were lethal. With a mighty pounce the dog had him on his back, shielding his face with his arm the beast didn't hesitate to bite.

The taste of flesh and warm, salty blood only increased the animals insanity. Einon furiously started beating the beast over the head and shoulders with the rod, but that only turned the dogs attention to him. This gave Davian a chance to make a stab at it with his free hand that still held the blade. The thrust it upward, trying to pierce its heart, but missed at jabbed the inner part of its shoulder. Once again the dog was ticked and in pain. He tried to thrust at it again but the blade had gotten stuck into the hellhound's bone. Raging now, the beast lunged again, plunging its fangs into Davian's throat. To a point a few degrees beyond being scared to death Ian took his pocketknife and did a bit of thrusting of his own, his small blade into the dogs eye. It yelped and screeched so much it didn't even sound earthly. Pumped with adrenaline Ian ran after it and implanted the pocketknife in the beasts' brain with his foot.

"I ran to the city gates like the devil and his hoard of demons were chasing me. I screamed what had happened and begged that someone would come help my father. Help came instantly but it was too late. He had pretty much died in Einon's arms." Ian hung his head. This was clearly a hard story to tell. "After that the city's doctor took pity on us and since he had no family he offered that we live with him. We accepted his offer until I was sixteen then I decided we'd move on again. Einon protested but I argued father was content with the nomad life and we'd always been well off that way so why shouldn't we? So the nomad life is the one we took on and like I promised we were fine, until another disaster struck, pretty much as bad as the last."

He paused.

"So what happened to Einon?" Chanticleer asked gently.

"That was actually the reason for all the fuss. Four days ago we were on the move again, during the evening hours we searched for a place to rest our heads for the night. Just before all light was gone I heard him try to cry out but it was muffled, like someone was trying to keep him quiet. I was on the scene in a heartbeat believe me. Sure enough two other guys, maybe our age or older were working to tie him and keep him silent. I wasn't about to ask why I just charged and swung my pack at the closest one. That started a short scuffle and one of the last things I remember is getting knocked to the ground feeling exceptionally dizzy.

'Should we take him too?' One of them asked, 'You clunked 'im in the head, 'e's probably dead.' The other answered. And they left me, taking Einon with them."

"Did you happen to get a look at their faces?"

"Ed, he said it was dark."

"I didn't need to see their faces, when I woke up the next morning I followed their trail. Those two carrying a struggling third party member left behind tracks larger than a hurricane going in a straight line. I hid our gear except for a few likely needed weapons and set off. About a hundred yards off I came to a bizarre array of car tracks…"

"So they stuffed your brother in the back seat and took off?" Ed mused, trying to get a rough of a possible scenario.

"Maybe, but this was different. There were eight tracks from one vehicle."

"Eight?"

"Yeah. Like there were two small tires in the front and three on the back wheels."

"Probably designed to carry a lot of weight from the back, extra wheels in the back could help to support some of that excess weight." Chanty thought out loud.

"That makes it sound like you're suggesting that more people may have been taken and the people _taking them_ were all the prepared to do it." Edward said to his friend.

"That's right." Ian breathed but it got caught in his throat.

This was taking quite the turn and fear began to grip the alchemists as well. Kids getting picked off the streets? This was likely to turn into something big and they hoped they'd be prepared for it.

* * *

Chibi me- That thing with the dog was kinda violent wasn't it?

Me – (too busy to answer)

Chibi me – Would a dog really do that?

Me – probably…..

Chibi me – WILL YOU PAY ATTENTION!?!

Me- Sorry, what?

Chibi me – forget it. You're too absorbed in your book. So does that me I can do the preview?

Me – No

Chibi me – Oh fudge.

Me – In the next chapter Ian explains what he saw that made him flip out at Central, a search and rescue is permitted by Mustang after Ian gets quite the shock when he gets checked into Yoyo manor for the night.

Chibi me –(pause)………..(Long pause) Soooooo, is that it?

Me – I'm busy so yes.

Chibi me -PHHHTTtttt!


	4. Chapter 4

"It took me almost two days to find where the vehicle had stopped at it led me to a series of old abandoned buildings…that may have been old but were far from abandoned. I couldn't find a way in so I climbed up a dead tree to the roof hoping I could tear back the shingles and slip inside, I'd worry about getting out after I found Einon. That plan fell apart when I discovered a skylight and light blinked from _inside_. I slinked over to it, peeked in and nearly had a heart attack.

This giant cylindrical…_thing_ sat against the farthest wall. Eight men wearing white coats held notepads and were observing the people inside it. People no more than teens, wearing no more that thin white sweatpants. The two boys inside this glass/steel chamber were dead. Four other men in heavy gray coats opened the chamber door with stretchers and took out the bodies. After the room was clear two more teens were brought in, young, confused and scared. They were ordered to lie on two stone 'beds' in the chamber and hold still.

Another whitecoat from the outside pressed a few buttons on this huge panel. And the machine started to hum. 'Drop it to the usual.' One said. He pressed another button and the boys went ridged inside. The one started to tremble violently. 'Bring them up' the man said again. The second kid, the one who didn't seem to be affected at all started to tremble and looked in pain, the one trembling first started to convulse and scream. It was the most horrible noise. It was like trying to scream bloody murder but your lungs aren't strong enough. He fell off the stone bed and appeared to be having a seizure. Almost as soon as it started it ended. One lay on the stone bed, his breathing shallow, the other…was dead. Wide eyed and stiff as fish meat in the freezer."

Ed swallowed hard. That sounded like one of if not the most horrible way to die, your body pretty much breaking itself through seizures and not being able to breathe. "What happened after that?"

"I shimmied down that tree, got quick directions to Central and made a few cheetahs so a double take as I ran by."

"How long did it take you to get here?" Ed asked.

"Nearly four days."

"ON FOOT?!?!"

"Yeah, If this was what was going to end up happening to any and everyone that had been taken I was going to make sure I got help before Einon ended up in that thing. Even if he did and didn't survive I'd **_love_** to put an imprint of my fist on the face of the man in charge."

"I'm not one to say that I wouldn't have done the same thing." Chanticleer stood up. "Ed, you take Ian to Yoyo Manor and I'll tell Mustang what he just told us. I have no doubt he'll let us investigate this, human experimentation is just sick."

"Take me _where_?"

"We call it Yoyo Manor because it houses a bunch of yoyos." Edward told him. "Lets get permission to take him off Central premises first, then," He rubbed his hands together with an evil pleasure. "We can do what we do best."

Chanticleer grinned. "Solve some mysteries, distribute justice, knock in some heads and enjoy doing it."

* * *

Edward invited Ian to come inside Yoyo Manor and offered that he put his bag next to the door.

"Hey guys! Come on down here, I've got someone here I'd like you to meet."

"Brother!"

"Hey, Al."

"Good golly he's tall."

Ed's eye twitched. Even though it wasn't directed at him the talk of height still got to him.

"So is this the guy we were told about at Central?" Al asked, turning to Ian.

"Yeah that's me."

"I'll give you the details later." Ed whispered.

"What's the yelling about?" Lame had recently discovered that he could jump from the middle of the stairs to the floor without getting hurt. After the question he jumped, luckily the hardwood floor was just that, hard. Otherwise somebody would be on his tail (literally) if they discovered horseshoe prints under the carpet. "New friend?" he asked spying Ian.

His eyes opened wide as he looked Lame over. "How did-? Is that-?!"

"Real?" Lame pivoted his ears and swished his tail. "Yes they are so you can quit staring."

"You'd better get used to it and quick." Edward said. "He's not the only one with abnormalities in this house."

"There are _more_ like him?" Ian asked his voice rather high pitched. It wasn't like he was trying to sound offensive but he was completely lost for words. At that time the rest of the family began to file in.

"Kun?"

"Oo's dis? Oo's dis! Swquark!"

An intro went around but Ian still wasn't sure what to think of the animal kids.

* * *

"So, how'd it go?" Chanty asked Annie when he got home.

"I don't think he's completely settled with the chimera idea but it's not like a racist thing, he just thinks its weird." she kissed him. "I think he'll get over it soon. He's already taken an immediate liking to the twins."

"Who can't?" he kissed her back.

"So what's the news from the big shot?"

"Mustang? He only thinks he's all that."

Annie giggled. "So what do I owe the pleasure of you talking so suave?"

He shrugged. "We'll be heading out tomorrow, what's so wrong with a few tender kisses and gentle hugs?"

She cuddled close to him. "If you're going out again tomorrow…wanna have a midnight swim tonight?"

"You mean like the romantic glow of candles, a drink of something special, I sing to you and we stay in the water all night because you fell asleep on my arm and I don't want to move in fear of waking you up?"

Annie smiled and snuggled closer. "That sounds perfect."

* * *

Chibi me – hey, HEY! W-WAIT! NO! NO! WAAAAAIT! (fump)

Me – (Tossed Chibi outside the protective dome and locked the door) I'm testing to see if Ed is still made at me for something I wrote, and drew.

Chibi me – LEMME IN! LEMME IN! I don't see him around but I don't want to risk getting caught!

Me – Oh chill. In case you've forgotten, YOU'VE GOT WINGS AND HE DOESN'T!! Ed and Chanticleer, following Ian's directions head off to find his brother and the person in charge of this mass kidnapping and murder. But success is only what they **hope** for.

Chibi me – In case you've forgotten you've got one of the most powerful magical artifacts from the realm of Forgotten Dreams and he doesn't! Alchemy looks like the reaction from that volcano experiment with vinegar and baking soda in comparison.

Me - ………Oh yeah. (completely forgot but won't openly admit it)


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

"CHANTICLEER! Get your feather butt out of bed!!! You've got places to be remember!" Mark had used one of the ruder ways of waking someone up in order to get the point across.

"Do you have to be so noisy?" The Dawn ran his hands over his face and his fingers through his hair. "Last I checked you weren't on the schedule for the morning wake up call."

"Yeah that's usually you're job."

"What? Oh. You're pokin' fun at my condition again ain't ya?"

"You _did_ leave that wide open. Now come on. Ian and Ed are almost ready to leave and they're waitin' on you."

"So I guess (yawn) Annie didn't get a noisy rise-and-shine wake up?"

"No. Wanna know why? She's not a State Alchemist with responsibilities and you are."

Chanty chuckled. "You always were the one to keep us in our places, Mark. I guess when they say if you wish for something too hard it won't happen it holds truth."

"And what did you wish for?"

"That you'd outgrow your own maturity."

It was Mark's turn to laugh. "It was my 'maturity' that also pulled us out of some tight spots in the past, especially when I was the only clear thinker. But seriously, getting yelled at is the nicest way you could have been awakened, you'd better get downstairs fast otherwise Ed's likely to _pull_ you downstairs by your hair."

"Ok, I'll be down in a minute." Mark left and Chanty got around to get dressed.

It was about midnight when he and Annie left their moonlight swim so he was still in his swimsuit. It didn't last as long as he'd hoped though; he didn't realize that the water would be _that_ cold. After getting into some real clothes he combed his hair just to get out any snarls, he hated snarls. But rather contradictory to the combing he always bent over then swished his hair over his head to give it the scruffy look.

"'Bout time you decided to get up." Clen said, stuffing his face with toast. "Sleeping in so late really ruins your image as an early bird."

The Dawn went face to face with him and poked him hard in the chest. "Keep up the mouth kitty cat and I'm bringin' up the sun **_REALLY_** early tomorrow."

"Bring up the sun?" Ian asked puzzled. "What are ya a rooster?"

Everyone in the same room who wasn't Ian exchanged bizarre glances.

"Um, what did you think the feather he showed you in Central's cell were?" Ed asked.

"Weird."

"I kinda **_am_** a rooster."

"Oh." Ian was just now putting two and two together. Poor kid, he'd probably have to go through some sort of counseling course before this was over.

* * *

"Hey, Ed. You wanna play cards?"

"Humph! What makes you think I'd want to play cards with a main course?"

"Oh ow! That was a new one."

"What are you two talking about?"

"He's never forgiven me for kicking his sorry Fullmetal butt at a card game."

"What else is there really to do on a train besides sleep?"

"I don't know," Edward said. "But it seems like every time we get sent into a big mission or something we always end up on a train."

"Can you think of any better way of transportation?" Chanty asked with a grin.

"Uh, nope. (sigh) Too bad Mustang wouldn't let Al come along too, I'm sure he'd enjoy this mission too, he usually does." Ed kicked back and closed his eyes. "I don't see what it would hurt to have him along too."

"I hate to break up your tea party chat guys, but I really don't appreciate you being so mellow."

The alchemists looked at Ian.

"What's helpful when getting yourself into something serious or possibly dangerous is to get all the jitters out of your system before the action starts. It isn't like we're not taking this seriously because believe me, we are." The Dawn explained. "I know you're worried about your brother, but what can you really do on a _train_ to help the cause? Don't get your stomach all in knots when it isn't necessary."

Ian wanted to say something but he knew Chanty was right. They couldn't make the train go faster so they were neutral; there was nothing they could really do at this point.

"I'll take you up on that card game." He said, feeling like a chain had been lifted off his shoulders.

* * *

After leaving the train station and before going to the buildings Ian described he asked to go and get he and his brothers backpack from the alley way where he had left them.

"Oh geesh! What do you have in here? Rocks?" Ed asked trying to pick one up.

"No, but close."

"If you two pack this heavy you'll be having some serious arthritis when you're old."

Ian shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." he looked around to get his bearings. "That way." He pointed. "That's the direction I followed them."

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Ed triumphantly stated and marched forward. Well…. tried to anyway. The pack was too heavy for him to walk with and drag at the same time. "Ummph!" He pulled with all his strength but couldn't get the pack to budge.

"You need a little help with that?" Chanty asked trying not to laugh.

"No! Mmph! I'm not gonna let some, ummph! Stupid, onnnph! School accessory get the better ummph of _me_!!" the Fullmetal grabbed the straps and yanked for all he was worth, but it was in vain. The gears in his automail arm squeaked in protest to the strain.

While Edward struggled with the backpack Chanticleer turned to Ian. "And that's your brothers bag?"

"Yep, I swear that kids got a spine of steel."

"Ok, pant, pant. I could use a hand about now."

The Dawn started to clap loudly.

"Grrr! You're going to end up on the table come next Thanksgiving." He promised. "Hey! Give that back, I could do it!"

Chanticleer had taken the bag and adjusted it on his back. "This is kinda've heavy, what's in it?"

"_KINDA'VE_ HEAVY?!?!"

"Something Einon found. Probably one of the few things discovered that looks valuable that we're not selling."

"So what's inside-"

"Come on, we're wasting time."

* * *

Me – so is Ian honestly more worried about finding Einon or is there something especially secretive that he's trying to hide?

Chibi me – **OH MY GOD**!!!!!

Me- What! What is it!?

Chibi me – I just read your note of what the thing in the bag might end up being!

Me – **_GIVE THAT BACK_**!!!! Sorry, no preview, I gotta get Chibi locked up before she squeals.


	6. Chapter 6

"So that's it?"

The three of them crouched behind a handful of large barrels facing the buildings Ian described.

"Yeah, kinda drab ain't it?"

The six large buildings looked like they'd been here since the Stone Age. The walls looked like they were covered in mold and the one ceiling seeped so much it probably would've collapsed if a butterfly landed on it.

"So this is the supposed secret hideout with mass murders and human experimenting? Feh, doesn't look like much. Be careful neither of you sneeze, it might cause a wall to crumble."

"Ed, do you have to talk like that? The horror this place is clearly filled with creeps me out enough without you talking about murder." Ian shivered.

Slowly the three of them crept to the nearest building, careful to make sure no one was around but the place seemed deserted. For the fun of it Ed poked a piece of siding that looked ready to fall off at the slightest touch. But it didn't move. He poked it again, it stayed put.

"What's wrong with this thing!" he hissed, sounding like a cat with asthma. "It's about to fall off but…. wait." he took a closer look. It wasn't siding at all, but paint. The entire building was painted to look like a trailer park after a tornado. The 2-D wall looked 3-D with crumbling bricks falling apart siding although the wall itself was smooth stone.

"How'd they do that?" Ian asked. He hadn't noticed this before and wondered how he _could_ have missed it once you were up close.

"Must've had a very skilled artist." Chanty said feeling the wall.

"Come on," Ed said, satisfied that a piece of plastic hadn't gotten the better of him. "Let's split up and see if we can find a decent way inside or check if there are any guards out here. I'll go around to the right, you two take the left."

"And if either of us finds anything?" Chanticleer asked.

"If we meet a guard we knock 'em out. If we find a way in, we make a lot of noise once we find Einon or are discovered so the other party gets an idea where we are to come in as backup." Satisfied with is own brilliance the Fullmetal walked off.

"Is he always so sure of himself?"

"Often."

"Maybe we could find that building with the skylight and get in through it. There's always the chance my brothers in the same place as that machine."

"I'm not one to rule anything out at this point so which one is it? You said you climbed a tree right?"

The two sneaked around the illusion-ed walls and to their great surprise no one was around. They could see the top of the tree peeking from behind a few rooftops away and didn't waste anytime sneaking faster to it.

"What's that!?" Chanty jumped and pinned himself and Ian to the nearest wall. "Did you just hear that? Like a door opening?" he whispered. Ian nodded nervously, the sound of a twisting handle and hinges squeaking slightly didn't sound too far away.

A soft 'thump' really sparked their curiosity. A guard would walk as though they knew what they were doing, not dragging their feet or falling. Ever so slowly The Dawn peeked an eye from behind the corner to get a look at who'd come from the door, his heart began doing summersaults. After not getting some kind of status report from the alchemist Ian peeked around to look for himself, his gasp was so heavy and deep he nearly choked himself.

The face was almost unrecognizable and the body was not much more than a skeleton, but that long black braid was more than familiar.

"Einon!"

* * *

"Hummmm." The Fullmetal said to himself. "Nothing seems to be here. The door I found was dead bolted shut and I don't want to cause a ruckus by using alchemy. Maybe the people here moved on."

Still muttering to himself Ed went down an alleyway between two buildings and tapped at any bricks or false siding pieces that looked promising as trap doors, but found none.

"I wonder if those two are as unsuccessful as me." He mused. Content that he'd left no stone unturned Edward turned around to leave and his instincts jumped immediately to the defensive. Someone stood at the alley entrance, blocking his way.

"Who are you?" he demanded. The Fullmetal began to take in a few details. At first it looked like Wrath, rather short with thick black hair. Then another detail jumped out that threw the first theory in the garbage. This stranger was a girl. (but that still didn't stop her from looking like she could have been Wrath's sister)

Her outfit looked like a wetsuit, black and fit rather snugly to her body. The right sleeve ended at her shoulder and the left at her wrist. The right pant leg went nearly to her ankle while the left stopped at her knee. With an inch of jade green trim on each sleeve or pant leg they angled heavily in opposite directions on her arms and legs. Clutched tightly to her breast was a mirror and on her shoulder sat a plump little owlet.

"Whoo?"

"Not you, Latara, he was talking to me." The girl looked at him. "What's your name?"

"I asked you first and you'd bet-"

"I guess his name isn't important right now, we'll learn it later won't we?"

"Whoo!"

"I'm a State Alchemist and that's all you need to know! Now tell me who you are and why you're here!"

She looked at him for a while. "Rather pushy isn't he?"

"Whoo."

"Will you quit talking to that bird?!"

"Latara is my friend, she only understands me and only does what I say. That is understandable of course, I created her."

Now The Fullmetal was confused but not off taken off his guard. Sure she looked like no more than a child but he too was really young when he became a State Alchemist so he wasn't going to let age be a factor in letting his guard down.

"What do you mean you _created_ her?"

"I thought you wanted to know-"

"Whoo."

"- I was."

"I did. I mean, I _do_ but you didn't act like you were going to tell me."

"I was as soon as you told me-"

"Whoo!"

"-you were."

"I ASKED YOU FIRST AND I'M OF HIGHER STATUS THAN YOU SO ANSWER THE STUPID QUESTION!!!"

"But if it's stupid then why should I answer it?"

This girl was showing signs of being totally wacked and he sensed this might take a while.

"FINE!!" he said with shark teeth and an anime vein. "I'm Edward Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist! Now who are you!?!?"

…………

"Whoo?"

Ed hit the floor in a heap.

"Gets frustrated easily doesn't he? But I guess he'll do."

The girl stretched her arms with satisfaction, the mirror still in her hands. Ed looked up and his stomach lurched. Aside from being insane this girl had the potential of being really dangerous.

On the inside of her right elbow was the Ouroboris.

She was one of the homunculi.

* * *

Chibi me - You made five new Sins of your own didn't you?

Me – Yeah.

Chibi me – Are you going to use the rest of them?

Me – I might. Not sure of exactly where I'll put them though. The next chapter is mostly dedicated to my personal Humonculous. That and I can really poke some serious fun at Ed!


	7. Chapter 7

"So," Edward said straitening up, preparing for a fight. "You're a humonculos. I suppose that means you're with Envy and the others like you."

"Yes I've met them." She said nonchalantly

"Then what are you doing at a dump like this! There's nothing here that would bring any of you closer to gaining the Philosophers stone and becoming human, you-"

He was cut off by his own thoughts. What if this **_was_** an operation to gain further access to the stone? What other purpose would there be to take lives except adding another soul to power the stone? Butterflies were square dancing in his stomach. If this were the truth then there was no chance of Einon still being alive. But if souls were what these people were after why stick them in that machine to kill them? A gun would bring the same result way and the humonculos could get creative with their methods of murder if they had a hand in this in any way.

"Whoo??"

The girl shrugged. "I don't know what he's talking about either. The others told me about the Philosophers stone and about becoming human but I had no interest in the stone or them." She stroked the owlets tummy. "Gluttony was irritating with his squeaky voice and asking if he could eat everything. Lust acted too full of herself for my taste just because she's pretty, Envy's a moron and Wrath wouldn't leave me alone. So I created Latara to keep my company and left."

It sounded like a believable story but The Fullmetal wasn't going to trust a humonculos just because they could spin a believable tale, whether it was true or not.

"So what are you doing here?"

"Looking for a companion. Since you're the only person I could find so far then I guess you'll have to do."

Edwards tension began to wear off. "Sorry to rain on your parade but I'm on a tight schedule and need to-"

"Are you good at riddles?"

"What?" her interrupting was beginning to get annoying.

"I asked if you were good at riddles."

"Um, kinda've….not really." To his surprise her face lit up and squealed with delight. "What did I say?!"

"Oh goody! Goody!!!!" she giggled, jumping up and down. The poor owl was left to hang on for dear life.

"'Oh goody' what?!"

"If you're not good at riddles then we'll be able to stay here forever!"

"Huh?"

"Hold on." She turned and aimed her mirror at the ground. As though she'd been used alchemy a wall grew up from the ground. "Perfect. We'll stay here forever and be best friends! At least until you answer one of my riddles correctly, then I'll let you go."

"I don't think so."

He clapped his hands and slapped the wall, with the intention of blowing a hole in the wall to get away. But nothing happened. "What have you done!"

"I've trapped us in here so you can't try to get away when we play riddles."

"I figured that, I meant what you'd do to the wall so my alchemy doesn't work?"

"I wanted it to be alchemy proof so that's how I made it when I sprouted the other wall. Just so you don't ask I did it with my mirror. Just by capturing the reflection of any and everything I can transform it into anything I desire." She plopped on the ground and sat Indian style. "Come on, sit down and lets play."

"NO WAY!" he wasn't about to treat a humonculos like a friend. "I'm not playing riddles, I think your crazy to believe a mirror can do virtually anything just because you _want_ it to and I've got places to be!"

She sighed. "I hoped it wouldn't come to this but here we go." She turned the mirror around so Ed could see himself. "If you don't believe me I suppose I'll have to show you."

"Wait…what are you doing?"

On top of the decorative frame of the mirror a jewel sat in the middle of a transmutation circle and glowed green. The next thing Edward knew everything had gotten like one hundred times their size. A stone by his foot was almost to his waist. What the heck was going on? Why was everything so huge? He tried to yell "What did you do!?" but nothing came out. He looked down, red. Nothing unusual, he'd had his jacket closed.

"AWWWW!" the girl squealed. "You're so cute!"

She looked enormous too. He took a better look at himself and just about fainted.

"HUMMM!!!" The humonculos had transformed him into a golden hummingbird with a bright red breast. The flipping out alchemist's brain had gone on a jam with shock and commanded that he run around in circles screaming. But for those that know anything about hummingbirds they can't walk. Their feet are specialized for perching not walking…so he fell to his side with one wing buzzing so he slipped around in circles.

The girl approached the bird in distress and lay on her stomach watching. Finally she poked him in the chest with one finger to stop his spinning. "I'll change you back if you promise to play riddles with me. If you don't," she giggled with delight at the mere thought. Not an evil giggle, she just was childishly happy about the idea. "I'll tie a string to your foot, tie it in my hair and wear a veil of flowers so you can eat, more importantly it will make **me** look pretty!"

"Ok ok I'll play riddles!" Ed tried to say but all that came out were hums. She understood, pointed her mirror at him and he changed back. "_That_ was weird."

"There was a little green house, and in the little green house was a little brown house. And in the little brown house there was a little yellow house and in the little yellow house there was a little white house. And in the little white house there was a little heart. What is it?"

"WHAT!?!?!"

"That's the riddle."

"Oh come on! This is crazy. I have people waiting on me.

"Rubbish."

"I've got a job to do."

"Rubbish."

"I've got someone I'm supposed to be saving."

"Rubbish."

"I've got-"

"Latara."

The fluffy white owlet had been transformed (no doubt the work of the mirror) into an enormous rattlesnake, its tail like a maraca and poised to strike.

"On second thought how 'bout you repeat that for me?"

(eight minutes later)

"I haven't gotten the slightest clue."

"Teehee. It's a walnut!"

"WHAT KIND OF A RIDDLE IS THAT!!"

Latara rattled her tail and Ed shut up.

"Ok, black within, and red without, four corners round about."

Again the Fullmetal was stumped.

"A chimney. Now try again. Twelve pairs hanging high, twelve knights riding by, each night took a pear and yet a dozen left there."

"Um……"

"A pair of twelve is twenty four. Twelve knights picked one pear and left twelve. It's simple math."

"I'm never gonna get out of here at this rate." He was started to feel really stupid that he hadn't been able to give any kind of answer besides 'um' and 'I don't know.'

"You're not supposed to. We're gonna say here, play riddles and be best friends."

"Yeah whatever, what's the next riddle?"

The girl changed Latara back into an owl and held out one of her wings, holding up a few feathers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Ed was careful to count every feather. She never said whether she was counting the small feathers as well. "If you mean the big feathers there's four, the little one's there's eight, all together you're holding up twelve."

"Wrong."

"WHAT? How can I be wrong?"

"Owls don't have fingers."

Edward crashed to the ground again. This was beyond ridiculous. Unless this was just to distract him her motives were completely backwards from any humonculos he'd ever encountered. It was as if nothing interested her if it didn't revolve around herself. Sure, the other humonculi acted selfishly about becoming human with the philosophers stone but she'd already said the stone didn't interest her at all and he was beginning to believe that.

"Ok, next."

"I've seen you where you never were, and where you never will be. And yet you in the very same place may still me seen by me. What is it?"

_Where is a place that you can be seen without actually being in that place_? The Fullmetal thought. _A place that you can never really **be**, and yet **can** at the same time. _

_A place where you are, and yet can't be at the same time. You can be seen in the place that you can never really be and still be in the same place where you start. By all means that sounds impossible so how..._

His thoughts trailed off as inspiration hit him hard. Ed looked at the girl, at Latara, at the wall, then at the thing that they all had in common, the mirror. That was it!"

"A reflection! The answer is a reflection!"

Her expression of glee was quickly replaced with horror. "How-?"

"I got my clue from your mirror. You said yourself it needed a reflection, you had my reflection right in front of you when I was still twenty feet away. I hadn't moved but my reflection could be seen from a place that I never had been."

She made a pouting face like a spoiled child that got their favorite toy taken away. Latara noticed her mistress's distress and poised to strike again.

"No, it's all right. I promised that he could go if he could answer a riddle." She sniffed. "I just wish it could have lasted longer, that was the most fun I'd had…ever."

She sobbed a little; making some of Ed's original thoughts that humonculi had no feelings dissolve a notch. There was no way anyone could act that well and those were honest to goodness tears.

"Ya know, if you simply asked people to spend time to play riddles I'm sure they would. You don't need to hold them against their will just to get what you want. Wouldn't it have been more fun if I had _wanted_ to play?"

She thought about it for a minute then dissolved the wall blocking the exit.

"Maybe it would be twice as much fun if someone _wanted_ to play with me."

"I just said that."

"Yeah but it wasn't my idea until just then so it didn't count."

Ed walked by her shaking his head. "You're really strange you know that?"

She giggled and the snake had returned to its owl form and resumed its perch on her shoulder.

"Maybe I'll see you again, Edward Elric."

"Maybe. By the way, you never told me your name."

She smiled, pointed the mirror at herself and morphed into a large snowy owl. With the mirror in her talons she silently took off into the dark sky, the owlet's big eyes peeking out from over her shoulder.

Ed couldn't help but smile a little. As he continued walking he heard a little voice in his ear that explained quite a bit about the stranger he'd just met.

"Vanity. My name is Vanity."

* * *

Me - So Edward escapes his fate as a riddle partner for all eternity but now what? He finds a very unusual way to get back to Yoyo Manor and Chanty and Ian are already there. In Einons hand there is a very bizarre clue as to what he experience while trapped in the warehouses.

Chibi me – you're no fun this time.

Me – why not?

Chibi me - because you're strait and to the point with your preview.

Me – why is this a problem? Usually when I goof off or say more you yell at me for doing just that. Goofing off and saying too much.


	8. Chapter 8

Edward looked all around the buildings but couldn't find Chanticleer or Ian. At least he didn't find anyone else either. After circling once more he saw something strange not even fifty feet from one of the warehouses. From distance it looked like an underfed camel lying down. Carefully approaching it didn't phase the thing any (if it was even alive) so he relaxed and got closer.

Stiff as a board a camel-ish creature sat. Edward circled it a few times, this was a very bizarre thing to look at. He could only guess that Chanticleer had made it because it was composed entirely out of vines and plants. After the third circle did he notice the piece of paper in its mouth. A more interesting find was that the paper had his name on it.

_Ed, _

_We found Einon. Couldn't find ya so we headed back home._

_get on this guys back and touch his head, he'll take you home._

_Chanty_.

Ed climbed on the back of the camel thing and touched the back of his head as he was instructed. Instantly the vines beneath him flexed as real muscles would as the creature came to life. Thinking this would be a sweet, easy ride home he sat between the two humps as the camel stood up and got comfortable. Nice easy ride right?

WRONG!

The camel's legs were twice the normal length, specialized for running. It was unsteady standing up but after it got its footing the camel thing took off like a rocket. It galloped like a giraffe but _much_ faster, Ed nearly cried. Never had he felt like his power of control had reached zero percent. The thing clearly knew where it was going but it wouldn't stop or slow down when Ed yelled at it to.

* * *

"Oh my God what happened to him!?" Annie asked horrified when Chanty busted through the door, followed by Ian carrying his brother.

"Somebody get the guest room fixed up NOW!" Chanticleer ordered. "We're not sure, Ann." He answered in a much calmer tone.

"Kun!" Dixie ran to her brother scared. Einon's abused body scared her to death.

Ren picked her up and hugged her tight. "Everything will be ok." He encouraged even though he didn't know this himself.

"Chanty what's going on?" Steve asked urgently, with the kind of voice that you can't just ignore.

"I told Annie, we're not sure about the details yet. IS THAT ROOM READY!?"

"Yeah, yeah! Get him in here!" Mark and Brody shouted together.

Ian nearly plowed into Mark while trying to get by. Carefully he and Chanty laid Einon on the bed. His eyes were less than half open and fluttering like the wings of a dying moth. The shallow breathing had been a worry since they found him, if the pained wheezing couldn't be heard Ian panicked because he thought his brother was dead. The only thing that would hint Einon's behavior wasn't linked to dying was his eyes always followed Ian.

"It'll be ok." Ian whispered, standing over his brother. "These people are friends, we're gonna do everything we can to get ya better and figure out what happened, kay?"

Einon wheezed heavily and slowly opened his right palm. Inside was a crumpled piece of paper, how they could have not noticed was a mystery because the ends were showing from his hand.

"What is it?" Annie asked between dabbing Einon's forehead with a cold wet washcloth.

Chanty unwrinkled the paper and took a look.

"Strange, it's a list of dates and elements. Beryl and chromium, bixbyite, morganite, aquamarine, and heliodor. Next day, corundum, in parenthesis, aluminum oxide with chromium and iron + titanium. What are all these combinations?"

"They're precious gems." Al peeked his head inside the room. "Beryl is what emeralds are made of, chromium makes them look green, aquamarine makes them blue. Both rubies and sapphires are made of corundum, but plain chromium makes a sapphire blue and the combination of iron and titanium makes rubies look red."

"But how does all this fit?" Steve asked, shooing everyone else from the room except for Chanty, Annie and Ian. "A list of ingredients for gemstones and a kid that looks like all his muscles have been deflated? You can't get skin and bones skinny from starvation _that_ quick, so what happened that could have done this to him in such a short time period."

"Maybe when he wakes up he'll have the strength to tell us." Annie said, putting the washcloth back in the bowl of water. "He just fell asleep."

"Let's just pray to God he doesn't die in his sleep." Steve said.

"At least it wouldn't be painful if he did." Ian whispered, his voice full of pain. "Could I have some time alone please?"

Steve and Annie nodded and left.

"If you need anyone or anything someone will always be close to the door." Chanticleer said before leaving himself.

Ian nodded his thanks before Chanty shut the door behind him.

For a moment he stood by the bed staring at his sleeping brother, why he wasn't sure. Was he being protective? Was he watching to make sure Einon was still breathing?

After a few minutes of just standing and staring Ian got on his knees with his elbows on the bedside. Just looking at his brothers body made him want to cry. He looked like the teeth of a plow covered with a wet blanket. His breathing had evened but he still wheezed as if he had a wasp in his throat. Ian sat there wondering, what had happened to him, who had done it and why? Who could be so heartless as to do something so cruel to another human? Why do this to someone without a reason? Even if there was a reason, what kind of goal could you possibly hope to achieve by strictly hurting others?

All the questions and no answers hurt him to think about. Ian covered Einon with the sheet that was folded on a chair before getting in the same chair to sit down. After uncounted minutes went by Ian finally broke down and started crying. Not caring if Einon woke up he sat next to him and held his brothers torso close to his.

All valuable possessions that one can come across in a lifetime, the ones you grow attached to and don't want to lose, a ring, your grandfathers watch, they all mean absolutely nothing once your faced with something else you really don't want to lose, the life of someone you love.

Ian started bawling silently. Tears flowed freely and dripped and rolled down Einon's hair. He held the limp body tighter to him, if he was going to lose the one thing he had left that was worth protecting it was going to be in his embrace. Between prayers and sobs Ian was only able to speak a single sentence.

"Einon! Please don't die. You're all I have, I need you! Brother don't leave me, _please_ don't die!"

* * *

Me- This is probably the shortest preview ever. Chibi started crying when she read this chapter so we won't be seeing her. Ed returns from his camel ride, Chanty shows Goxlin something cool and Einon wakes up. Sorry it's o short but I need more tissues so I don't end up drowning in Chibi's tears. 


	9. Chapter 9

The camel stopped running just outside the front door. Edward was suffering from a serious case of saddle soreness and groaned when he got off the things back. His thighs felt like…actually he couldn't really feel _anything_ in that general area. Once he was back on solid ground the camel lost its artificial life and fell apart.

"I hope it hurt." Ed grumbled. "After all you put me through you'd better suffer."

Once inside he was greeted with a few 'where have you beens' and a quick explanation of what happened when he was away.

"He had this with him." Al said, handing his brother the list of element names.

"Any idea what it means?" The Fullmetal asked.

"Nope. Einon fell asleep a day ago and hasn't gotten up since. Ian won't leave his side either."

"So does that imply that he's dead?"

"ED! You know how uncalled for that question was?!" Luke and Lucus charged at Edward & before Ed could respond or run he found himself at the bottom of a dog pile.

"I think you squished my appendix into my intestine!" Ed moaned to the bozo boys.

The twins rolled off his back and continued log-rolling to the stairs before standing and going up them.

"Those two redefine strange." Ed muttered as Al helped peel him off the floor. "Now where's feather duster? I got a bone to pick with him too."

"He went to show something to Gox, why?"

"Something personal."

* * *

**Twenty minutes earlier  
**

* * *

"Hey, Gox. Come here I want to show you something."

"Hold on, I'll be right there." Goxlin finished the page and put down the book he was reading. Mark had found a novel in brail that he thought Gox might like and he was learning how to read it very fast. "What is it?"

"Come here and I'll show you."

Without even using his echo Goxlin easily made his way to Chanticleer's side. He had become so accustomed with the arrangements of the interior of the house he didn't need to use echolocation to find his way around. Only drawback was when you live with a pair of goof offs like the twins who on purposely moved the couch just to see how Gox would react to the rearrangement. It wasn't pretty.

"So where are we?"

Goxlin let loose a barrage of squeaks to get a feel of his surroundings. "The west wall by the large window with the velvet drapes and the fancy strings to hold them back."

"Wow, you can tell all that just by hearing it?"

"Yep."

"How do you know what the drapes are made of?"

"I've felt them."

"What color are they?"

"Well they're bl-Now how would I know that!"

Chanty laughed and took Gox's hand. He guided the hand around the drapes and the rope that tied them in place. "You getting a feel of all this?"

"Yeah but why?"

"You'll see. Actually no you won't but, you get it right?"

Still being a guide Chanty led Gox to the knot in the rope and told him to gently untie it. When he did he was surprised because it pulled back. It was like having a large, very powerful dog on a leash.

"Slowly give the rope some slack, just like if you were lowering a bucket of water into a well."

Gox did. Soon the rope was nothing but slack, he could only guess that meant whatever was being released had reached its end. The Dawn lead Goxlin around to what the rope deal was all about.

A staircase. Untying the rope let loose a thin staircase from the ceiling.

"Where do these lead?"

"To the attic."

"We have an attic?"

"Sure. I added one in when the Elrics and I added on those extra rooms. There's something up there I want to show you."

Using the echo Gox was able to go up the stairs without assistance. Once in the attic itself Chanty gently pushed Gox in the back to the other end of the room.

"So what's up here?"

"I found them when I was putting a box up here last night. One of them nearly flew in my face."

"Them? Flew?"

Chanticleer smiled. Once in the corner of the attic, their destination, he extended Goxlin's arm once more. The elongated fingers met something furry and a squeak of annoyance.

"You have got to be kidding!" Goxlin was hardly aware his mouth was hanging open as he stroked the furry bodies of a family of five little bats. After being touched it squeaked what might have been a bleeped out word to show its distaste at being woken up.

"I just thought that because you are part bat you could bond with these little guys. The big female has a baby too."

"Chanty I really don't know how to thank you for showing me this. Seriously, this is _way_ beyond awesome."

"I too have something to thank you for!" Edward popped his head through the attics trap door.

"Hi, Ed. I would've thought Jeremy would've gotten you here sooner."

"Jeremy? You _named_ that wretched camel? The horrid beast that caused me so much grief and pain you _named_ it!?!"

"What do you have against the camel?"

"A serious case of saddle soreness and intense pain in the area surrounding, need I say more?"

"Nah, I get it."

* * *

**In the spare room**

* * *

Ian sat on the wide windowsill with Einon cradled in his arms like a mother holding a newborn baby. He had spent most of his night awake, watching his brother sleep and making sure he was still breathing. For a long time he was able to fight off tiredness but in the end sleep proved to be the stronger opponent.

After nearly two days of straight sleep Einon had recovered enough to open his eyes. The first thing he saw was the sleeping face of his brother above him. He tried to smile, he believed all along that Ian would somehow find him. Though he felt wide-awake he needed someone to take the anchors off his eyelids. Einon tried to speak but it was as though something had lodged itself in his throat. After trying to clear it a few times he was able to say one word.

"Ian." He wheezed.

Ian jumped a little. But it wasn't because of a voice, it was a little clatter that startled him awake. He sat up straighter, readjusting Einon and bent over a little to see what had made the noise. It sounded like a bolt or stone falling but he couldn't see anything on the floor. Confused Ian laid back and did a double take (twice) before realizing it wasn't pure sleepiness that made him see that his brothers eye were open.

"Hey, you all right?" Ian felt as though he could faint with relief.

Einon nodded slightly. "Better." He coughed and something small popped out of his mouth, landing on his still bare chest. Really confused Ian picked it up and examined it. His breathing quickened and his heart raced once he determined what it was and how it had got there.

A crystal.

Einon had coughed up a crystal.

"Oh my God what have they done to you?"

* * *

Chibi me- so how do you plan on explaining how Einon coughs up jewels when he talks?

Me – You'll find out. Don't be so pushy. The next chapter is just a space filler so there's not much to tell.

Chibi me- either that or you're just running out of ideas.

Me – Am not. Don't sound like you know everything because it just makes you sound stupid.

Chibi me- I am not stupid!

Me- then quit acting like it.


	10. Chapter 10

"Do ya think Ian's awake?" Annie asked Steve in the kitchen.

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"He was asleep in the windowsill with Einon when I went in to give him breakfast."

"Did you leave the tray in the room in case he woke up?"

"Um, no. Probably should have though, now I feel dumb."

Scolding herself for not using a bit more common sense Annie took the breakfast tray to the spare room where she assumed Ian would still be sleeping. To her great surprise he was awake, to an even greater surprise was Einon was too. And to an even _greater_ surprise was the look of horror and confusion on Ian's face.

"What's wrong! Is he ok?"

"As far as I can tell he'll be fine, but-" Ian looked at he crystal again. This didn't make any sense at all. How could a crystal be inside Einon's body? How did that connect with how bad he looked? Did it connect at all? "Get Chanticleer and Edward. Alphonse too if you can find him."

Annie didn't need to be told twice. She put the tray on the bed and ran out of the room to find the alchemists.

* * *

"He's awake?!" Al cried.

"Yeah, he seems to be fine but, the look on Ian's face…. you guys need to get in there now."

The trio wasted no time getting to the spare bedroom and once inside they closed the door. Ian had propped his brother into a sitting position next to him.

"How is he?"

"What's so urgent?"

"This." Ian held up the small chunk of crystal.

Edward took it and examined it carefully. It did indeed appear to be a genuine crystal. "What's so special about this?"

"He coughed it up."

(Cricket chirp)

"He did what?" Chanty asked.

"After he spoke he coughed it up." Ian turned to Einon. "Say something to show them."

Einon had a look like, 'what should I say?'

For no real reason Chanticleer stepped forward. It pained him deeply to see someone in the condition like Einon. Sunken eyes, skin and bone, hard breathing, he could hardly fathom how someone could allow another person to get in such a state.

"Who are they?"

With an expression as though he'd taken a whiff of something awful Einon spit out two stones, no different than you'd spit watermelon seeds. Edward picked them up. One was some kind of quartz and the other was a smoky blue. Al and Chanty looked over his shoulder and every few seconds switched their gaze from the stones to Einon.

"How in the blue blazes did you do that?" Chanticleer said slowly.

"Obviously whatever happened at the warehouses you visited." Al said, taking one of the stones. "But how is that pos-"

"Don't!" Einon blurted. Out popped a smoky topaz. "Please don't mention that horrible place!" Four more stones of various colors clattered to the floor, all about the size of a pea.

"Einon," Ian was almost pleading. "You need to tell us what happened to you. Edward and Chanticleer are State Alchemists so they can help. They need to know… _**I**_ need to know. I already feel irresponsible for letting those thugs take you in the first place, I also want a larger incentive kick in some (insert body part(s) of choice) once we catch them and dispense justice with an iron hand." He wrapped his arm over Einon's bony shoulder. "Please tell us about it." he whispered.

Einon leaned foreword, face in his hands. He knew the importance of telling the alchemists about what he'd been through so that would only to put more black marks on the record of the man in charge…but the ordeal was still vibrant and alive in his head. The last thing he wanted was to relive that horror any more than he already had to.

"All right." He finally whispered. Ian and the alchemists let out a sigh of relief. "But first." They held their breath again. "Could someone get me something to eat? I am starving!"

* * *

Watching Einon eat was a spectacle that made Ian's spine tingle but at the same time found himself unable to look away.

He found it disgusting that someone could starve another human so badly that they'd almost choke themselves from inhaling their meal like Einon was doing. Ian also found it disturbing that his brothers savage eating habit almost directly mimicked that of the starving dog that killed their father.

It took a grand total of six normal sized meal servings before Einon felt even halfway decent.

"Feel any better now?" Annie asked when she brought in a large glass of milk that he completely drained before she even finished her sentence. (if you can believe that because the sentence was pretty short)

"I've been eating nothing but water, broth and a slice of bread if I was lucky for over a week, what do you think?"

"Well you look a lot better than you did." Chanty commented. This was true. He'd gone from stick figure to just skinny since that morning. "Hey, I know it's beside the point but has anyone seen Gox?"

"Um," Mark looked out the door. After Annie left with the food tray he'd brought a change of clothes for Einon. "I haven't seen him all morning…I don't think I saw him last night much either."

"Considering that he can't see us." Luke said when he walked by the door.

"That was a really lame attempt at humor, Luke."

"Kun?"

"Dixie!" Ren came up from behind her and pulled her from the doorway. "This isn't a place to be playing around and peeking in, Einon still isn't feeling too well."

She nodded her understanding and motioned for Ren to pick her up before they left.

"Kay, people. Clear out for a second." Ian shooed them away for a moment while Einon got dressed. Although much of his strength had been regained his muscles were still a bit flimsy so he needed some assistance with the small things.

"D'ya think we'll get any leads from what he tells us?" Al asked his brother.

"There's no way to know until he tells his tale."

"What's this about tails?" Lame asked, walking by swishing his.

Chanticleer snorted a laugh. "What happened to you?"

Lame glared. "So Dixie wanted to braid my tail, BIG HAIRY DEAL! I actually don't mind except for the pink bow."

Chanty still thought it was funny.

* * *

Me – I changed my mind, there's going to be another little insert after this before Einon tells what happened to him. (gets a glare from Lame.) What's your problem?

Lame – There was no reason for you to put in the part about my tail!

Me – What's wrong with braids? Ed's got one. I've got one. A _really_ long one.

Lame – yeah but yours and Ed's aren't donned with pink are they?

Me- ok I admit it, the pink bow was totally uncalled for and – hey, quit looking at me like that. Wearing a pink bow once isn't going to kill you.


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

Ichabod Harrison was livin' the life. He was wealthy, owned a big house, his beautiful wife was expecting their first child in a few months and this new project could be getting him a serious pay raise. Nothing could be more perfect. He was one of those people everyone wished they could be. He had a high paying job that he loved, though nobody knew what it was, not even his wife.

But she didn't care. Her husband could afford beautiful things for her, they went on expensive weekend outings almost all the time, the beauty of her house made her feel like a queen and Ichabod treated her like she was. The only finger she ever raised since she married him was to caress his face with kisses or the womanly pleasures that money couldn't buy. (but we won't go there)

As he usually did Ichabod mentally went over all the possessions he owned just to make himself feel powerful. In the backyard he swam back and forth in the brick pool he had constructed. A frog had managed to get stuck in the pool but that didn't faze him any. He simply picked it up, threw it out and continued his swim.

_Yes sir, Ichabod. You are a lucky man. You have everything you want and more and it's about to get better. Working for him is a risky business but once you play your cards right, as you have, ranking up was easy. Too bad part of your schedule is taken up by taking shifts in guarding and feeding that street whelp_.

Floating on his back he wondered if he should break out the candles and a bottle of expensive champagne for his wife tonight, then he heard something. He tilted his head from the water so he could hear better. After a moment he heard nothing so he went back to his swim.

_Maybe I'll dive a few times._ He thought. Then again maybe not, his wife was taking a nap and he didn't want to disturb her. _Nahh. If you do it right a dive doesn't make much noise. _

Ichabod swam to the ladder but once he was out he heard that noise again, a rustle, like something moving in the neatly trimmed hedges that had been grow as privacy fences.

After that Ichabod barely knew what hit him. He was struck from behind and lay in a dazed heap on the marble patio stones. What was going on? Who were these people rushing around him? **What**! Someone was tying his feet together!

"What is going on!" He demanded. "Who are you and what are you doing on my prop-?"

He was struck again to keep him quiet and someone (or maybe two someones) were propping him up. Something obviously heavy was being connected to the chains around his ankles but he couldn't quite see it.

"You know the boss doesn't like failures." Someone said.

"Thomas? Thomas, what's happening? Why are you trespassing on-?"

"I already told you, the boss doesn't like failure."

"What?! But what have I-!"

"Do it."

Still dazed he felt himself be half carried half dragged to the deep end of the pool…and thrown in. The heavy object was some kind of cannonball or cement block. In anguish he thrashed about, trying to loosen the hold the chains had on his ankles. The torment, he could feel his fingertips break the surface of the water.

The second before he died Ichabod Harrison understood why this was happening.

Experiment RW92190 had escaped during his shift.

* * *

Chibi me – you're really sick.

Me- (sniff) yeah I know. Tissues are disappearing like mad.

Chibi me – THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT AND YOU KNOW IT!

Me – so I horrendously murdered someone, it's happened before. Sure, I don't care much for murder and brutal killings but-

Chibi me – No 'buts'!!! Delete that chapter and ….

Me – Next up! Einon explains what happened to him at the lab/warehouses and what that bizarre machine was for! (mumbles) I hate it when she blurts like that. I've got no choice to interrupt otherwise she won't shut up.


	12. Chapter 12

The entire Yoyo household found itself in a serious need to restock the kitchen. It was understood by all that Einon's body to replenish what it had been denied but that left only a limited menu for everyone else. At least he was looking more human than skeleton.

"Any better?" Steve asked, secretly crossing his fingers that he was.

"Much." Einon said with a hard swallow. He was pretty sure he felt a stone go down with that swallow but didn't care.

_What a relief_. Annie thought. She wanted him to get better like everyone else but she didn't plan on going to the market for another four days, now she needed to go immediately.

For the most privacy Chanty, the Elrics, Einon and Ian went to the attic to discuss the issue regarding Einon. When they got there it was already occupied.

Goxlin hadn't gone downstairs since he'd befriended the bats. In fact he might have to be forbidden from going up there, the aura of the bats seemed to be affecting him. He was asleep against the wall with his legs above his head, all of his body weight on his shoulder blades…and all but one of the bats was hanging by the belt loops on his pants. The fifth had clung on to his sock. Their laughter woke Gox up and Ed took each of the bats and let them resettle on the wall. Any grumpy bat couldn't Ed bite this way with his automail arm and they wouldn't be hurt when Goxlin stood up. Al couldn't fit completely though the trap door so he just sat on the steps after Gox left and Einon began his tale.

""After Ian was knocked out by the men that took me I was thrown into the back of some vehicle, hands bound tightly. Five other teens were already in there, all male. Using their elbows & knees, since their hands were tied, they helped me sit up. From my limited vision I could see they were as frightened as I was, each of us knowing no more than the other as to why this was happening. I sat in the farthest corner & tried to keep my breathing steady. Another boy, older than me shifted closer & asked my name before introducing himself as Tiburon but didn't mind being called Tibu.

I told him who I was and he started talking to me. It wasn't a conversation with a real purpose but it helped knowing someone was at least pretending nothing was wrong.

It was impossible to tell how long we were in that wagon, we couldn't even cry out either. For one we had no idea if anyone was even around to hear us and one boy had a serious gash on his shoulder that was his reward for crying for help. Once at the destination the back doors were open and we were roughly pushed from the truck and quickly herded into the warehouses…the doors were shut the second the last thread came through the door. To our surprise the room was already ¾ filled. All boys. Despite there being so many people the only ones talking were wearing black uniforms and held either a club or dagger to keep order. Tibu stayed right by me the whole time. After maybe twenty minutes of standing around, looking around another group of teens were brought in and this time the door was bolted shut after they entered.

After that the guards began pushing though and telling people to stand in certain parts of the building. When a guard was close enough I heard him ask how old a kid was before sending him off. They were sorting us by age, but…why? The guard came around to us and asked the same question, I answered 18 and Tibu answered 26. He was about to push me aside to where I was supposed to stand but Tibu stopped him. Somehow he'd managed to free his left hand, grabbed my shoulder and held me to him.

'He's staying with me.' Tibu said firmly with a straight face.

The guard first looked ticked that his order was being denied but then started laughing. 'Hey, Joel.' He laughed. 'These two wanna stick together!'

The guard called Joel answered. 'Probably brothers no doubt so just let 'em, they lived together so let 'em die together.'

The '…let 'em die together' left an insane hush over the room. Joel looked around with an evil grin at the silent panic. 'I take it back, not _**all**_ of you are _likely_ to die. I wouldn't worry even if you did; we took special care making sure you had no home or family so you won't worry anyone if you died. More importantly, you won't be missed.'

Needless to say that was none too reassuring. After the groups were separated large crates of cloth were set near each cluster, these ended up being the sweatpants you saw me wearing. We were given five minutes for all of us to get out of what we'd been wearing and into what they'd given us. The guards threatened only once that you dawdle you die. Groups of seven or ten of us made a shield around another while he changed then he'd move to the 'shield position' and another would switch with him. After Tibu and I had taken our turns he nonchalantly told me a bit about himself.

His name, Tiburon, was Spanish for shark & he was the oldest of four children. Where he originally lived a huge pneumonia scare arose and killed the youngest, his two sisters. His mother later died of a combination of the disease & grief. In fear that either he or his sons would fall victim to the disease his father decided to leave. The three of them had separated; in the agreement that once either group had struck some kind of fortune or steady job they'd look for the other.

'So where's your brother?' I asked him.

'Don't know' he said matter a factly. 'He disappeared about a month ago and I have no idea what happened or where he went.'

'Sorry 'bout that.'

'No need. Though I worry I'm getting on just fine.'

But by glancing at him I could tell he wasn't.

'So why-' I started.

'Oh dang.' He said. He'd picked sweatpants that were 2 sizes too large. He held a wad of fabric the size of a toy ball on his hip. But our 5 minutes were up & guards began filing into the room. Tibu either didn't notice or didn't care. Instead he bumped his hip to mine to keep his pants from falling & embarrassing himself. While doing this he undid the string that held his short ponytail, tied it to the string in the sweatpants & pulled quite a bit before they fit the way they were meant to. I couldn't help but laugh. Then a thought struck me, he'd chosen that pair on purpose to make a goof of himself to cheer me up.

'Why are you doing this?'

'Doing what?'

'Acting as though we're life long buddies. Of all times and conditions to make friends why choose now to be so nice to me?'

He smiled. 'You're a little brother.'

I stared at him. 'How can you tell?'

'Omran always looked that way to me & so do you, I guess it's a signature look only a brother would notice. Omran is about you're age I'd think, maybe once we're out of here we can look for him together.' He paused. 'What about your brother? He'd either not have been present when you were captured or these people intervened somehow.'

'The second choice.'

'I'm sure we can make finding him apart of our plan too.'

'Why are you so sure we'll get out of here? My brother was hit over the head and could be dead now. Why so sure he's ok? Why so sure your brother's ok?'

Tibu shrugged. 'Just a gut feeling. My father's philosophy was that if you always keep a positive outlook on things they tend to end up that way.'

Just then the guards began crowding us tighter into our groups & three men escorted two from the youngest grouping through another door. Questions weren't allowed. One boy resisted, demanding to know where he was being taken…he was shot. His body was propped up next to the door as an example as to what would happen if anyone else decided to resist.

Maybe ten minutes after the boys went through the door the guards came out and took two more. Tibu sympathized the boy but if it scared him any it didn't show.

'How can you be so calm?' I asked him. 'It wont be long before we're the ones going through that door and who knows what's behind it.'

He flicked my forehead. 'Think positive. No matter what happens you'll be all right.'

Well _that_ part was true, too bad he hadn't saved a bit more of that positive thinking for himself.

* * *

Chibi me – (snuggle) I love Domino's babies. They're so cute! And soft!! Can't we keep them all?

Me – Unfortunately no. Just one.

Chibi me – The little black one?

Me – yep.

Chibi me – What'cha gonna call it?

Me – If it's a boy, Bumbo006.

Chibi me – If it's a girl?

Me – Not sure. Anyway, the next chapter is just a continuation of Einon's story. I didn't want to make one chapter 6 pages long on Microsoft Word so I'll just cut it here.


	13. Chapter 13

"The guards came in and out of those doors like clockwork. The youngest group slowly dwindled until there were only three left. A pair was taken and the odd one out was pushed into the next group to be taken later. All the while Tibu didn't let his nervousness show. Even though we'd been together for less than an hour I'm guessing I felt like we'd made pretty good friends. The next age group was now being taken through the doors and Tibu started talking again.

'So what's your brother like?' He asked. 'Omran was always Mr. Independent but always had a dependent-ness to me though he never admitted it. I can tell you're the same.'

'Is it that obvious?'

'Only if you're open enough to know what to look for or recognize that quality when you see it.'

At last it was our group. I was finding it hard to swallow because my throat was so dry. Tibu elbowed me. 'You'll be fine. We'll just be sure to go together.'

Finally it was the moment of truth, our turn. I was going to be paired up with someone else but Tibu slid in before I was ushered out. The guard looked at him like he was nuts. Then shrugged. 'If he's so eager to go first let him.' he muttered.

The two guards walked behind, one making sure the heavy door was closed tightly behind us. The hallway wasn't that long at all, only fifteen feet at the max. The guard who closed the door went ahead, opened another heavily built door & pushed us through, Tibu had a comforting hand on my shoulder the whole time.

We entered a medium sized room with some kind of machinery buzzing. Five men wearing white coats looked at us as if we were no more than sheep for the slaughter. Too bad that statement had a tremendously accurate. We were motioned to go through a small door behind a wall of glass and lay on the large stone beds inside. My stomach dropped to the floor when the one had blood splatters on the side. Tibu nudged me on, silently saying he'd take that one. After we'd both laid down the door was shut & someone was pressing buttons outside, making the buzzing noise turn into a light hum. Tibu looked at me one last time saying that everything would be fine.

That's when it happened. So suddenly in fact I was too stunned for the first minute or so to even make a guess as to what _was_ happening. It felt as though someone put a roadblock in front of my brain while at the same time dropping large rocks on my lungs. I couldn't move, I could barely breathe. My stomach was in a knot and my lungs had been filled with lead. I'm not even sure if the feeling I had has a name. It was terrible pain and yet at the same time it was merely discomfort. I have no idea how long this went on in reality but from the time it began to the time it ended felt like only a few horrible minutes.

When the pressure was released I found myself panting heavily although I didn't feel all that out of breath. The men outside opened the door and a few came in. One came to my side with a long necked bottle. He breathed heavily into it and touched the bottom, it glowed blue for a second and he put it to my mouth, telling me to breathe it. I did and immediately I felt the odd sensation of whatever just happened go away. Later I found he'd transmuted the carbon dioxide from his breath into pure oxygen, that's what made me feel so refreshed.

'Put him with the rest.' A voice from outside said. 'Him?' why didn't he say, 'Them?' There were two of us so why say that singular and not plural? Unless…

Only when I tried to move did I discover how difficult it was for some reason, but when I was able to turn my head and my heart stomach seized up again.

There lay Tibu, wide eyed and still……his own blood pooling in his mouth.

I was too shocked and hurt to say anything. Even when I tried no sound came. The men put us on makeshift stretchers and took us out of the glass chamber. They were less careful with Tibu than they were with me. I wanted to tell them to take it easy, that even the dead need to be treated with respect but all I managed were subtle noises. The guards that brought us in left from the door we'd entered and we were taken through a door on the other side of the room.

On the other side I was greeted with the most horrid smell. The men carrying me took me to the left but I was able to see what was being done with Tibu…I almost wish I hadn't had my head still turned. He was tipped out of the stretcher and onto the table no different than grass is tipped from a wheelbarrow. THAT made me mad. But what I saw after that made my insides dissolve.

The table was lined with bodies of the dead. It looked to me that I was the only one who survived the procedure. Most had the same expression, open-mouthed & wide-eyed. There hasn't been a night where I haven't seen their faces. So what were they going to do now? Dig a mass grave and lazily toss everyone in it? Now I think it would've been best if I hadn't discovered that answer either.

The awful smell of the room was from blood. The bodies were being dismantled. I don't see how the people doing that would live with it. Even though they're dead they're still human. And if you think that was bad it gets worse.

In the back of the room small kennels has at least four dogs that looked as if they'd gotten any skinnier you could see through them. Several men were shouting and prodding at them, deliberately making them angry. In one kennel three dogs were attacking a fourth in hopes to kill and eat it. They were beaten through the bars to make the attack stop. Two that looked like Dobermans were in a larger cage; it was hard to tell they were so thin. The floor was covered in crimson and they were lapping it up as though they'd never been given a drink before. A chunk of meat was tossed over the top of the cage, the second it hit the ground the dogs nearly killed one another to make sure they were the first to take it. More was tossed in and they inhaled it in no time flat. That's when it hit me and I nearly threw up.

They were feeding the bodies of the dead to dogs in order to dispose of all evidence from a mass murder.

Tibu…

They were going to do that to him as well.

He didn't deserve this…neither did anyone else.

He was my friend and now I'm probably the only one left to remember him.

I wanted to cry out and beg for at least him to be buried properly but I was already going through the next door.

That's when **my** nightmare started."

* * *

Me – I know I'm kinda dropping some serious cliffhangers and waiting quite a while before loading the next chapter so I hope no one hates me for that. I didn't realize how much more I wanted Einon to explain and how much page space on Microsoft it would take up. Please be patient, I'm doing my best.

On a more positive note I found my long lost friend Kamikaze the treefrog. Last year his home was one the pool deck, it's nice to know that throughout that summer and hard winter he never left.

* * *


	14. Chapter 14

"To my surprise I wasn't the only one to have survived the procedure. Ten other boys had been laid on cots in a dimly lit room, each breathing as heavily as me. The guard in the room picked me up from the stretcher & put me down next a boy who sounded like he was having an asthma attack.

'How many others are there?' he asked.

'About 35 or 40.'

'That's it? You brought in nearly a hundred people & only eleven survived? What exactly are you _doing_ to them?'

'Sorry but it's not your job to ask questions.' From then until another group of workers came in all I could think of was what happened to Tibu & why it happened. A much greater goal must have been the incentive to kill a hundred people & not showing any remorse. What did these people hope to achieve that would include such a dangerous procedure & such brutal ways of disposing of the failures?

After an hour I felt myself regain strength enough to sit up & look around. I was the first to do so & the guard kept a close eye on me in case I tried anything. Two more were brought in after me & the one with the heavy breathing had died. That's when the real test started. For those who couldn't stand on their own a stretcher was provided, which was everyone else but me. Either this building was really big or several buildings were connected because once again we were going down a long hallway. More men in white awaited us in the next room. If they were disappointed about the number of survivors, I personally think they were, they didn't show it. Just like they'd done before the youngest went first and turns were taken by age.

The youngest was told to sit in a large elaborate transmutation circle. Even those who don't use alchemy know what it can do, or at least this kid did, judging by his look of terror. One white coat dumped a bucket of dust in the circle next to him then another activated it. This wasn't near as bad as the first practice but that still didn't make it any less comfortable. They did that to each of us before individually putting us in a smaller chamber for the first procedure to be repeated. This time the blow was much heavier. If we weren't in the chamber we had to sit not far away to watch. It was horrible. The first boy..." Einon stopped. It was hard to say what was worse, telling his own story or telling what happened to those he was with.

"Can you go on?" Ian whispered. "If this is hard you don't have to repeat it."

Einon shook his head. "It _**is**_ hard but I think it's a gesture of respect that I tell what happened to those boys. Odds are no one knew them because in many respects they were nobody. If in death is the only way they can be known so be it. At least someone else knows about them besides the dogs that consumed them."

Edward felt even his automail shiver. This stuff was pretty deep. This too touched Al but found the pause an opportunity to find another bucket, Einon already filled up two of Dixie's sand pails with jewels from his story.

Einon swallowed and continued. "This boy, I know it was his nervousness that killed him. Judging by how he freaked out when the chamber door closed he must've been claustrophobic. A white coat said 'Take it down.' & the machine buzzed to life. He banged on the walls begging to be let out but it didn't last. He grabbed his ears & shrieked but no one cared. They watched, some were even taking notes! Then the shrieking stopped. He had collapsed in the chamber, ears bleeding, eyes shut tight…mouth fixed in a silent scream.

The next boy died the same way. The third," Einon shivered. "First you have to understand this machine I later found out was called a decompression chamber. Every one of us has 14&1/2 pounds of air pressure on every inch of our bodies. What they did was pump the chamber of air to increase the pressure _in_ the chamber & in turn _on_ us. The pressure squeezes at every air pocket of your body, lungs, stomach & if that doesn't kill you the build up of nitrogen bubbles in your blood will. Telling you how this works makes it easier to understand how he died.

Like all those before him he was in a panic & right before this machine was turned on he'd inhaled deeply. As the procedure progressed & the pressure increased I saw his chest cavity suddenly contract. After that he fell to the floor dead…his lungs had exploded within him.

The oldest was on the verge of a nervous breakdown & couldn't take anymore. He started screaming that these people had no right to slaughter other humans in such a way & that he wasn't going to die at their hands like this. His ravings only stopped when five white coats managed to subdue him & force him in the chamber. But this time their expressions were different…this time they meant to deliberately kill him. Same as before his ears were the first to go but that didn't stop him from banging on the doors like a madman. As the pressure increased he collapsed, eyes wide open & clawing at his own flesh. He writhed as blood leaked out of his mouth & ears; his eyes bulged, straining within their sockets. He tried to raise a hand as though to contain them but to no avail. My stomach churns when I think of this but an eye did escape its boundaries – & dangled grotesquely by strands of muscle fiber. Believe it or not the white coats were laughing at his writhing and pulsing figure, **LAUGHING**!

I don't know what made me but I was glad to have looked away when I did.

To my right I heard a boy get sick. Though I didn't see the event I understood what happened just by looking up. The chamber was filled with a thick, crimson mist…globules of red flesh had stuck to the chamber walls. A group of three men quickly went in and cleaned the interior while the other white coats couldn't get over themselves, they clearly saw this brutal murder hilarious. My brain had gone numb at that point. I don't really have any memory of what happened before it was my turn for the chamber. I know things happened but I can't recall details.

My turn. The chamber floor was sticky & I got goose bumps in places I didn't even know I had because I knew WHY it felt that way. The feeling was much worse the second time and I don't know how I survived it but my some miracle I did. My knees gave out and that's all I remember of that night.

The second I woke up someone pulled me to my feet then shoved me out of the room I was put in. after the shoving I once again found myself in yet _another_ different room. The only two things that remained the same in this new room was that death chamber & men in white coats working machinery.

This time things were a little different. Sure nobody cared how _**I**_ felt about getting shoved around but I didn't really expect them to. What I didn't see at the time was a transmutation circle engraved on the floor of the chamber; the floor was covered with a good half in layer of what appeared to be sand. As one man began increasing the pressure another activated the circle by touching a twin circle on the outside of the wall. To cut on story time I'll be blunt, the sand was actually the mineral form of gems. By pumping me full of these minerals & continuously tossing me in that chamber the pressure reverted the gems to their stone form, but only through vocalizing. From where I stand I'm still putting two & two together only to come up with five as to how they made that possible.

After every session I felt myself get weaker. Being carried back to my room to rest didn't help much; they'd just do it again. The only relief I could come by was from the pure oxygen that was being filtered into my room. By day four their efforts were proving to be worth it, that was the day I discovered I was spitting gemstones. All of that day I was off the hook, but of course, I was just the guinea pig I didn't _do_ anything. I wasn't the genius; they found my suffering a success & that was reason to celebrate. I didn't even have a name! I was just RW92 something. So while the _lab rat_ was a way in his cage the stuck up know-it-alls probably broke out the fancy champagne & a dozen congrats. I'm glad it lasted a whole day; the next day they worked overtime. Instead of a recess of 3 hours between sessions they cut it to 1 & 1/2.

From then on I wanted to die. I wanted it all to end. There were times I thought my heart itself had burst within me & yet I was still alive. There was nothing left of me, both body & soul. I could hardly will myself to move & the hope I had of being rescued was nothing more than a dim flicker beyond my grasp. I was ready to give up & let myself fade away. That's when my unexpected hope came in.

I was lying down when I heard the door open. I expected the watchman to lecture me about how I should be grateful for bringing me the scraps he called a meal because he didn't _**have**_ to. But instead a new voice urgently told me to quickly eat what he brought & hide the tray under the cot. But most of all to be sure the key in the napkin stays hidden. This really got my attention but by the time I turned my head I only got a quick glance at his face before he left in haste. I'm sure a snail could've beaten me as I tried to do what he said but somehow I managed. It's even better that I finished when I did; the REAL watchman came in the second after I took the last swallow. He grumbled & complained while I ate the scheduled meal he brought & grumbled some more after I was done.

Only when it felt like a safe time span after he left did I take out the key. It didn't make sense; the door to my room had no lock on the inside. But now that hope was no longer just a dim flicker in the distance I decided to try. True the key I was given didn't go to this door but luck seemed to be on my side, the door wasn't locked. After a little prayer that I wouldn't get caught I left.

It had to be on pure will power that I was able to stand and go on. But I'm sure the extra to eat played a part as well. A thin trail of black sand had been left close to the walls, still praying this was the right way I followed the trail, sure it was left by the stranger. Following the trail proved to be fruitful. It brought me to a door. That walk down that short hallway felt like eternity as all sorts of emotions drained my energy. Relief that I was going to be free, anxiety that the key wouldn't work or it was the wrong door & others. I felt as though I'd waste the strangers' help & die of relief when the key fit smoothly into the lock & turned.

After that you found me and you know the rest."

* * *

Me – Phew, I've had this planned out for months but I'm really glad it's over. Now I can get on with building the plot now that I've got a more solid foundation.

Chibi me – You really can't summarize can you?

Me – When I get into it no. After I realize I've gone overboard I cant find any thing irrelevant enough to take out.


	15. Chapter 15

The end of Einon's story was greeted with silence. The question of 'why' had been answered, these people wanted easy access to precious gems to be instantly rich. But this only led to the question of whom this 'they' were. But both were irrelevant compared to what happened to those boys. How could you possibly be able to live with yourself after murdering so many for money?

It was impossible to tell whether Ian's expression was pain or suppressed rage. He held an arm around his brothers' shoulder and they each leaned on one another.

"It'll be ok, you're safe here from now on." He promised.

The alchemists vowed to themselves that promise would be kept. Suddenly Einon gasped and put a hand to his chest. The reason why was revealed after a quick use of the Heimlich when the noise of the gasp caused him to choke on one of his own jewels.

"What's wrong!" Ian asked.

"I lost the tooth." Einon answered.

"The what?" Al asked.

"My shark tooth necklace. All the pressure must have broken it." Einon brushed his hand across his chest as though expecting to find it. He was crushed. Their aunt had left both he & Ian a shark tooth necklace when they were little in her will after all the years prior they'd admired her collection.

Ian found his hand to his own chest, feeling the large tooth of a great white beneath his shirt. He pulled it out and ran his thumb against the smooth surface. He had quite a scar on that thumb from fingering it too much. Though the original owner of the tooth was probably long since dead the tooth itself could still bite. Making up his mind Ian untwisted the clasp and began to give it to his brother but before he could get it tied Einon tried to stop him.

"I can't accept that." He said. "It isn't rightfully mine."

Ian tugged the string and finished hooking up the clasp. "Now it is."

If Al had real eyes he would've cried. This kind of brotherly love flooded him with joy every time he saw it. Before he could say anything…or before anyone could comment a shout from downstairs interrupted all thought.

"ARE YOU INSANE!?!?!?" A voice thundered. "There's no way on this side of heaven you'll get me to agree to that!"

"Oh come on, it'll be fun!"

"NO!!!!"

"Why not!?"

"What the heck is going on down there?" Edward asked, moving toward the exit.

"Sounds like the twins." Chanty said, wondering just what one could have said to the other to cause such a commotion. Before going down the ladder he stopped and turned to Ian and Einon. "Would you like to stay up here for a while or see if whatever the twins are doing will shed some sunshine on this dark atmosphere?"

The pair smiled and accepted.

"So why wont you do it?" Luke asked his twin.

"I like it this way. I'm not gonna change it just because you think it would look cool."

"What would look cool?" Ian asked.

"Luke wants me to cut my hair so we'll look even more identical." Lucus said, mentally kicking himself just for repeating the suggestion. "A feat I refuse to do."

"Why not?" Mark asked, "I'm surprised neither of you have suggested this before."

"Bad idea." Steve said, entering the room. "Who knows what kind of trouble they'd cause if they were impossible to tell apart."

Lucus shot his brother a look now that he had someone on his side.

"Not with me." Chanty said. "I'm always be able tell which one I'm talking to."

"How?" The twins asked together.

"Aside from a slight voice difference how could you tell?" Luke found this interesting.

"I can tell because you've got a square shaped freckle on your right ear and Lucus doesn't."

"How can you notice such tiny details?"

"Have you forgotten how long I've lived with you?"

"Kun!"

**CLATTER**!!!!!!!

Dixie had sneaked up the attic stairs and tipped over a bucket of jewels on accident. That was a perfect segue to tell everyone who didn't know about what Einon could do & a VERY brief summary as to why. No kidding, hundreds of gemstones falling from the ceiling are going to cause questions to arise. Because of the mess Dixie thought she was in trouble & cried, Steve, the twins, Brody & Chanty picked up the stones that fell from upstairs, Ed took the buckets downstairs in a spot where they wouldn't get tipped over & Al went to take out a few stones that fell down his armor and were now clattering in his feet.

Mark and Annie had gone to restock the kitchen so they were filled in on the details, as were Ren, Clen and Lame once they got home from the lab. Goxlin was getting his feet wet in the pool but since a window was open he heard everything.

"Kun!" Dixie hugged her brother around the waist crying, still thinking she was in trouble no matter how many times she'd been told that she wasn't.

Now that Einon felt much stronger than before he was introduced to the household members of Yoyo Manor. Ed & Al wanted to stay but Ed insisted on going back to Central to avoid a lecture from Mustang in case he needed something of them and they weren't available when required. Surprisingly to some Ed even declined staying for supper. While Einon and his brother made friends Steve helped Annie with the meal.

"I hope you don't take offense to this but I'm surprised you can cook so well." Annie told him.

"I lived alone for many years so it was learn to make sensible and unique meals or go insane off bread and water." He replied, taking no offense at all.

"Brody." Annie called to him. "Get the bozo brothers off the couch and the three of you can set the table."

"But mom do we have to?" The twins said in unison in a mocking childish voice.

"Yes you do, if you want to eat."

That snapped them right to it.

At dinner you'd have never guessed Ian and Einon were new to Yoyo Manor, they were treated like lifelong friends. Then again that's the kind of treatment you could expect if the members of the Yoyo household took a liking to you. Dixie surprised Ren when she wanted to sit on Ian's lap during dinner.

"She is so cute, I love the fluffy tail."

"Kun!" She pretended to act embarrassed.

"How come no one ever compliments my fluffy tail?" Clen asked, his mouth slightly full.

"Because you're not cute as a button." Mark said before taking a bite.

"He's got a point." Lame agreed.

"Now don't start the teaming up thing! My tail's nice, I keep it pretty and neat…"

"Yeah but you don't have an aura of innocence and big watery eyes."

"Oh yeah? Well-"

"All of you stop before an argument breaks out." Steve said, sensing an argument could spark from that.

"Speaking of keeping hair neat," Annie began.

Chanty held his breath thinking she was going to lecture him about his hairstyle.

"I seem to keep misplacing my combs. Losing one or two is one thing by losing three more replacements is ridiculous. And I only use one at a time."

The Dawn sighed with relief. "Well you know I'm not the one taking them."

"He might." Goxlin gestured in the direction of Clen's sudden inhale.

"What makes you think it was him?" Einon asked, getting in on the conversation.

"Why gasp like you've been found out if you haven't done anything?"

"Uh, oh. Clen's in trouble." The twins chorused.

"You haven't been taking my combs have you?" Annie asked although it sounded more like a statement.

"Well, I, uh, you see,"

"That means yes."

"Ok, ok! I admit it!" Clen said pushing his plate away and crossing his arms. "I've been really picky about the neatness of my tail and-"

"You're developing a type A personality over it aren't you?" Ren asked looking at him, he seemed to find this amusing.

Clen twiddled his thumbs. "Kinda."

The topic of Clen's tail would've continued but Lucus just hit his brother over the head with an empty dish.

"I said NO!" He hissed.

"Why not juggle pineapples and dance on a trampoline?" Luke said with a goofy grin. Either he was faking it or Lucus hit him too hard.

"What are you going on about now?" Ian asked.

"Yeah, kun!"

"And quit messing with my dishes." Annie scolded.

"He doesn't seem to understand what no means. I told him I wasn't getting my hair cut but right now I hate our mutual trait of being persistent."

"Little purple airplanes fly around in **squares**!"

"Ya know, Lucus," Chanty said after Dixie got in her giggles. "I do know how to lengthen hair in case you really don't like it." He held up one of his scarred hands. Very rarely did he wear his gloves anymore unless on a mission.

Lucus could tell his friend wasn't lying and was leaning toward agreeing now that he didn't have to wait months for his hair to grow back. But it would still be submitting to his brother and he wasn't going to admit that with everyone around.

"Pink inchworms tap-dance on shoelaces!"

* * *

Me –Finally, I've been stuck on this for a while and I know it wont be the first time.

Chibi me – What do you mean stuck?

Me – The kind of stuck where you stare at the last sentence for hours and nothing new comes to mind and whatever you think of at the time sounds dumb.

Chibi me – Well I guess now its over so no need to fret. By the way, how did Brookie like the bunny you gave her?

Me- fell in love with it the second she saw it. But she's got two older brothers that whine about how why cant they get bunnies for their birthdays…. insisting its name is Bugs Bunny…or it belongs to them.

Chibi me – all the power to her. Her brothers are pretty young too aren't they?

Me – She's 7 and they're _**maybe**_ 10


	16. Chapter 16

After a week you couldn't tell Ian and Einon were once homeless teens that had gone through trauma. They were happy, and that didn't just come from having friends, now they had a place to call home. Dixie had now taken up on following Einon around whenever she had nothing else to do and picking up jewels. It wasn't uncommon for her to poke him in the side to make him say something so she could pick up another one. It was very handy that Dixie was becoming quite the treasure hunter when it came to searching for Einon's jewels around the house, that's what Annie said. It at least kept her from having to sweep the house every few hours. There was just one possible potential problem…or at least an issue that needed attention.

Einon proved to be quite the chatterbox when around people who liked to talk as much as he did…& that meant a shower of gems. Gems I might add that were collecting in four sand pails, twelve old medicine bottles, eight mason jars, five flowerpots, an old teapot and a fishbowl.

Steve finally had the brilliant idea for Chanty to transmute large rocks into barrels outside but make them look like decorated stone maiden statues so no one would guess they were filled to the brim with precious jewels that amounts were without measure. And Annie got her flowerpots back.

But now the alchemist trio had missions to do, ordered of course by Mustang. Something that the three wished would happen didn't, that they'd get to go together. But no, Chanty was assigned a partner to help him while the Elrics went in the opposite point of the compass. Though he knew it might get him in trouble Ed made a detour to the warehouses were Einon had lived a nightmare, hoping that he might find a clue as to who put him through that torture. But it was in vain. It was once again all locked up & there was no point risking busting down a wall & find yourself outnumbered by lunatic scientists inside. That would be about the equivalent to throwing rocks at a hornet's nest. After hearing what these people were capable of he didn't want to end up like those other boys.

Chanticleer's mission ended sooner than the Elrics so he was able to go home to burn off steam, he did _**not**_ enjoy the company of his assigned partner.

"Brother! You're home! Hey, why look so ticked?"

"Because I am!" The Dawn snapped unintentionally.

"Care to share?" Steve walked in the room, washing his hands with a rag.

"I hated working with that guy!!!" He exploded. "We accomplished the mission but," he gritted his teeth & growled. "He was only five years older than me but he talked to me like I was three! _**He**_ was lecturing me about how to keep myself hidden and proper ways of stealth and _**he's**_ the only that nearly gets caught then blames it on me!!!"

"So it sound like you had fun." Mark said with a forced smile.

"I'm glad you're being a wise acre. That guy was a real pain in the as-sassin." Chanticleer quickly recovered the last word when he realized Dixie was in the same room. She looked at him quizzically before moving on.

"Wow." Brody said in disbelief. "Now I'm really getting the vibe of just how mad you are. You've only sworn four times in your life."

"Four more than I'd like too." Chanty admitted.

"Sounds like someone needs to unwind." Annie came down the stairs smiling. "Come on." She said taking his hand as he reluctantly followed her. She motioned to him to lie on the couch. He grumbled in protest that he wasn't in the mood but she pushed him and he didn't argue. Lying on his stomach all tensions melted away once Annie began to gently massage his shoulders.

"I could really get used to this." He murmured, forgetting he was supposed to be miffed.

"How come I can't get any of that?" Lame poked his head around the corner to get a peak at Chanty getting spoiled.

"She's not your girlfriend." The Dawn said simply. He felt as though he could go to sleep. "So where is everyone else?"

"They're out swimming. I'm gonna join them now." Lame said before leaving.

"We could join them too if you'd like." Annie said kindly.

"Why? You and I could have a private swim later. Doesn't that sound better?"

She smiled. "It does."

Not sure what made him do it Chanty sat up and gently embraced her. She didn't object.

"You know, Ann?" he whispered. "I think you and I need to spend a weekend together, just the two of us."

She hoped he didn't feel her grip tighten on his shirt. "I'd like that-"

"It would sure as heck beat the twins making comments about us sitting together or holding hands."

She laughed but it was the honest truth. Then she thought of something that worried her. "You don't think-" She paused.

"What?"

"You don't think anyone will question us being alone together do you?" By her look and tone Chanty knew she meant what people might think of an unmarried couple being together alone with no witnesses. Though Annie recovered quickly horror flooded her when he laughed.

"You don't worry your sweet noggin. The twins might be shocked to the point of becoming mute but Mark and Brody know where I stand morally and the foundation for my values are as firm as they can get. I would never put you in a position where you'd feel uncomfortable with me even if hormones protested to the contrary. Besides, all we've gotta do is get a hotel room with two beds."

"When should we tell the others about our trip?"

"Why even tell them? Just pack up and leave."

"That'll make it look like we've eloped." (not sure if that's the way to spell that)

"Hey! That's a great idea!"

"Chanticleer, behave yourself."

"Well, why not?"

All she could do was force a smile. It was true she had deep affection for Chanticleer but felt as if something were weighing her down from giving herself up to him. Something in the back of her mind wanted to rewrite 'deep affection' to 'love' but every pen it found was out of ink. Still it was persistent. She hoped it would succeed soon, she didn't like the idea of being held back from love in the least and wanted to be free of the feeling. At times the way he talked or treated her make her feel guilty that her tongue got unnaturally heavy whenever she wanted to voice she loved him.

"Well…I-"

He kissed her, stopping the sentence before holding her close again.

"You don't have to tell me, I understand. If you feel uneasy for whatever reason just tell me. I'll always understand, you never have to feel shy around me."

That was one of the times where her feelings were tangled because of his actions.

"Aren't you guys coming?" Someone shouted from outside. "We're about to toss Clen into the pool!"

"Oh no you're not!"

"Must be the twins." Chanty said, still holding her close.

"So do you want to go out and watch?" She answered, feeling slightly glad for a change of subject though she didn't say it aloud.

"Sounds good, lets go now before Clen puts up too much of a fight."

Watching Clen get tossed into the pool was quite a fun spectacle. Between him and the twins it was like they were wrestling a tiger. Clen definitely did **not** want to get wet. Honestly, he had trouble getting himself to take a shower. So after the chase to give Clen a dunk, Clen chase them like there was no tomorrow as revenge for the swim. It wasn't too surprising since Clen had been picking up more of his cat vibe lately but it was nonetheless amusing.

Little did anyone know the group was being watched.

"How amusing." The teen spy said to himself. "Father was right…and these must be the group of furry freaks Caradon had to recoil his funding from in order to give back the money he owed him. Needless to say those two boys tossing the one with the ears in the water _was_ entertaining." He continued walking as though what he'd seen wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

_At least now I know where they are_. He thought. _That is the biggest key to maneuvering a way around father's plan. Not sure what I'll do next but good ideas never keep hidden from me for long. _

Owston grinned and kept on walking as if nothing suspicious had gone through his mind…such as a plan.

* * *

Chibi me – (shriek!!!!!)

Me – What! I thought you knew about how I was going to go about this story?

Chibi me – NOT THAT! I was going to make peppermint flavored sweets by grinding up last years candy canes but they're gone!!

Me – You still haven't gotten it through your head who the usual candy cane theft is?

Chibi me – EmptyHeart's little rat Rukord! Please disregard any noises or screams you may hear! Now where's my wand?

Me – while Chibi's at war with Rukord, is it true that Owston has his facts strait that his 'experiment' is now hiding here with freakish chimeras & state alchemists? Not like it will matter who's in the way if he wants back what he believes to be his & his alone.


	17. Chapter 17

Chanticleer was enjoying the peace of an early morning shower. After a while of mulling in the hot water he was pretty sure he had the perfect spot in mind for his get away with Annie. Since being a State Alchemist often sent him across the map on missions he knew of several places that would be nice for a romantic weekend. Only problem was he had his choice narrowed down to two and would have to end up flipping a coin because he couldn't decide.

He jumped.

The weight of the water on his feathers caused them to droop and occasionally the tip of one would poke the back of his leg, making it feel as though something were crawling on him.

After a moment of internal debate as to enjoy the water for a few more minutes or get out he decided to get out before his fingertips looked any more like raisins than they already did. Only thing was when he pulled the curtain back and began to step out did he realize someone was already there.

"Gox! What are you doing in here!?" Chanty nearly yanked the curtain off the rod trying to cover himself back up.

"I'm looking for something. What are you getting all worked up over?"

"Goxlin I'm _naked_."

"Chanty I'm _blind."_

He felt temporarily like an idiot. Even though it was obvious Gox couldn't see him it still felt awkward wearing nothing but skin in the presence of another man.

"Could you just leave until I'm done?"

"Why? There's nothing you can show me that you need to be ashamed of."

"That may be but it still feels awkward, can you leave for a minute?"

"Not until I've found what I'm looking for."

"Come on, Gox. Just go."

"No."

"Why not! It wouldn't kill you to just-"

"Chanty, I can't see you so there's no reason for you to worry. Now if you ask me again I'll turn in your direction and stare at you just to make you feel uncomfortable."

The Dawn didn't press the argument any further.

* * *

"So, sweetie when exactly are we leaving? I'd like to know when I should start packing. (pause) You took a shower didn't you?"

"How could you tell?" Chanty asked. Knowing it was a question with an obvious answer. His instance with Gox left him feeling weird all over.

"Well your hair is wet, making you look like a shaggy dog and your feathers are hanging down with the weight of water."

"Excellent observation. Back to your question, I was thinking we'd be off for this weekend."

She hugged him around the neck. "So are you gonna tell me where we're going? Or are you going to be secretive?"

"I'll go with secretive." He hugged her back.

From behind the stairs someone let out the whistle. Chanty made a face.

"Pardon me while I maim the person that just ruined the moment."

* * *

"What's the matter, Brother? You've been antsy all morning."

In their room at Central The Fullmetal had been pacing alongside his bed for most of the morning. Al was surprised he hadn't worn a trench in the floor.

"I'm anxious." Ed said to his brother. "There's nothing to do. Everything is peaceful lately, and I don't like the feeling of it."

"Most people like peace and quiet. No one's getting hurt and everyone's happy."

"It's not that kind of peace I'm feeling." He paused, trying to put his feeling into words. "It's like the calm before the storm. Like something's regrouping and ready to strike, and soon, or at least sometime in the near future."

Al was silent for a moment, taking in his brother's words. "That's not all that's bothering you is it?"

"As a matter of fact no." Edward pulled something from his coat pocket, a pure white feather with a black tip.

"Ooh! Pretty! Where'd you find it?"

"Stuck between the window when I woke up. Someone put it there and that's not all." He turned it over. A short message was written on the feather. Al took it and read aloud.

"I know where you are and I'm coming soon. Gulp We should tell someone, this doesn't sound good at all."

"That depends on who it's from."

"Do you think it's from those people that hurt Einon? Because if it is," Al stood up, now on the alert. "We need to get over there and make sure everyone's ok."

"But if it was why not send a threat to the house instead of here? You weren't there when we rescued Einon so it's not for you, so the message has to be for me and I don't think it's from those people."

"Why not?"

"The message is on a feather-"

"Brother, Caradon sent a warning around he neck of a mutilated ferret. I'm all for saying anything's possible."

"That's true." Ed looked at the feather again. "But this is the feather of a snowy owl."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"I think I know who sent this." In the back of his mind something told him this message was no threat. "In fact I do know who sent it, and I think she's someone we can trust."

"She?"

Ed just smiled.

* * *

Me – So, can you guess who it's from?

Chibi me – Duh, that's easy.

Me – I wasn't talking to you. Right now I can't give much of a preview because I'm not sure what I'm going to do next….

Chibi me – That's just sad.

Me- But there's one thing I can say,

Chibi me – here we go.

Me – If you happen to have the time, check out my or my friend EmptyHeart's accounts at Type in the User name, TheWhiteShark for me and HosekiDragon for her.


	18. Chapter 18

Mark, Steve and the Elric's saw Annie and Chanty off at the train station. The rest would have come too but that's quite the crowd to be taking up space at the station. And if someone were to see Einon spit up jewels that would cause questions to arise.

"Just be careful and don't _**do**_ anything." Steve said.

"Yeah, both of you keep it clean." Mark added.

"Now I'm hurt, Mark. You know me better than that." Chanty gave his friend a look of half quit worrying and half fun.

"Yeah," Annie agreed. "There's no need to worry about us _doing_ anything. Both of us have firm morals and we're not going to drop them just because we're alone."

"Then I guess all that's left to say is to enjoy yourselves as much as a weekend will allow." Al said.

The conductor called and the train whistled.

"I guess we'll be seeing you on Monday." Ed looked at Chanty.

"Yep." The Dawn Confirmed with a smile. "And don't let the twins booby trap my room while I'm gone."

"I'll do my best." Ed laughed but he knew just how probable that was.

Not three minutes after the lovebirds got on the train did it begin to pull out. The group waved until they saw the pair leave their window and decided for them all to go to Yoyo Manor. Besides, Ed wanted to tell everyone else they might be having an odd visitor.

Back at Yoyo Manor, just after the group of six left with Annie and The Dawn to the station Dixie could be found at the base of the stairs pouting. She'd wanted to come too. Ren told her no because ninety eight percent of the population of the town didn't know about them being chimera's (just the people at Central and whoever they told) and the gang was still a bit edgy about going in public without hiding their un-humanness. Dixie obviously didn't care but Ren did.

"Hey Dixie." The twins appeared on either side of the staircase. She looked up at them then went right back to pouting.

"Ya know…"

"Luke and I were going to go swimming…"

"Then have ice cream…"

"And Chanty showed us…"

"How to wake up the dinosaur…"

"Would you like to come with us?"

Mention of the dinosaur got her attention. Chanticleer formed a plesiosaurus out of plants to help defend the house when Caradon Corius and his men attacked, trying to regain Chanty's gem that was the ultimate boost for alchemy power. After the fight he made it smaller so Dixie could ride on it when she went for a swim. When not in use it's artificial life left it, leaving it motionless until it was wanted again.

Dixie looked up and Lucus went head to head with her. She scowled at him and he went cross-eyed. Quickly she put her head back to her knees so he wouldn't see her smile.

"Did Chanty tell you where he's taking Annie?" Clen asked Gox while combing his tail on the couch.

"I don't think he's told anybody." Goxlin answered. "Either he doesn't trust us or it was so great he didn't want the excitement to spread and somehow spoil the surprise for Annie."

"Kun!"

"Oh no you don't!"

Clen looked up to see a pair of hands place Dixie on the bottom step before disappearing upstairs. She followed yelling that they'd cheated. She'd tried to slip passed the twins on the stairs so she could be ready for the swim first. But the twins had a quick reaction time. Luke picked the fox girl up around the waist, handed her to his brother three steps down who then put her on the bottom step before zipping up the stairs to their room.

"So what was that about?"

"Luke and Lucus messing around with Dixie."

"D'ya know where everyone is?"

"Um." Clen thought a minute. "I think Ren and Lame are at the lab, they should be coming home soon unless they made a breakthrough on something. Ian and Einon are out swimming I think."

"Great, one more thing we'll have to do." Gox slumped on the couch. "Picking up gems from the bottom of the pool. And guess who's gonna be volunteered to do it?"

"Probably you." Clen really couldn't have cared at the moment since he was too busy attacking a knot in his tail.

Outside Ian and Einon didn't mind company at all. But the water was a little cold so Dixie didn't want to get in. Luke told her she could sit on the dinosaur and not get wet and she jumped on the idea. Sure she wasn't going to get in but that didn't stop her from splashing the boys.

"So are you feeling pretty much back to normal?" Lucus asked Einon. "Or at least as normal as weird people can?"

"Did you just call me weird?" Einon warned though Lucus knew it was all in fun.

"Contrary to popular belief being weird is actually a good thing. Being called weird is just a special way of saying you're unique. It's when people call you strange then you need to rethink your life as to why that is."

"Very true," Luke agreed with his twin. "That's why my heart bleeds when people deny being weird, they're saying they're dull, boring and follow the crowd so they don't stand out."

"If you think of it our way being called weird, odd, wacky, is a good thing. It means you're doing a good job flaunting your individuality and people are noticing it."

"I find myself agreeing with you, Lucus." Ian laughed. "But being proud of being weird is one thing, being completely void of all sanity is another."

Lucus floated on his back and looked up at the sky. "Ah my sanity, it is all but a distant memory." He said dreamily.

"Back to your question." Einon cut in. Lucus sat up, remembering that he did ask a question that hadn't been answered. "I am feeling back to my old self, except for the fact a stone rolls over my tongue every time I talk."

"Kun!"

"Yeah, Dixie. And you like to pick them up don't you?"

"No, Kun!"

"Well I was pretty sure you did." Luke said.

"No, Kun! Kun!!!" She'd been pointing at the roof.

"What do you see?" Ian asked, following her finger.

"Pweety birdie!" Sure enough a small bird was perched on the gutter rail looking at them.

"You know what that is?" Einon asked.

"It's cute." Lucus commented.

"I mean species."

"Looks like an owl." Luke stated.

"No dip, no other bird has big eyes like that but this is white."

"Albino?"

"Maybe."

"You can come down now, Latara."

The swimmers jumped. They'd been so fixed on watching the bird they didn't even notice a new girl come up behind them.

"Is that your bird?"

"Indeed she is. Well I'm not too interested in speaking to the rest of you so will you direct me to Edward Elric?"

"That was kinda rude." Luke whispered to Lucus.

"We're more fun than Ed anyway. What could she want with him?"

The little owl flew from the gutter to the girls shoulder. Dixie's eyes went wide with awe when she saw that.

"I want to talk to him now so where is he?"

"At the moment he's not here." Ian told her. "Should be back soon though."

"All right." She held the mirror in her arm to her chest. "I'll just wait inside."

"Hey!" Luke called. "You can't just invite yourself in like that!"

"Well then invite me in." It was more of a demand then a request.

At the same time the twins felt the same thing. They didn't like this girl and hoped Ed would come home soon so she'd get lost.

* * *

Me- so I'm sure by now we've all remembered who the mysterious person is. So Vainity has found where Ed hangs out often. But what could she want? 


	19. Chapter 19

"Still no ideas as to where Chanty's taking her?" Steve asked.

"Nope. I didn't check as to where that train was headed either." Mark said.

"Well, why don't we go home for now? Dixie looked pretty upset about not being able to go." Al brought up.

"I dunno if I wanna go back." Ed said with a smile. "No more of Annie's cooking."

Mark playfully punched him in the arm. "So what if we've been reduced to a ninety eight percent all male household? Besides, my cooking isn't that bad."

"I was referring to if the twins volunteered themselves."

"In that case I must agree."

Back home the first thing the send off party saw were the twins irritated faces before Steve was even able to fully extend his arm to the door handle.

"Wonderful." He said. "Now we have two charming doormen, there's no way we'll keep the ladies away now."

"Lovely insert of 'wise guy'." Luke said sharply.

"ED!" they said together.

"There's a girl here for you and she's driving us crazy…"

"…So be a kind citizen, finish your business and tell her to get lost."

"Someone's here for me?" Ed asked. He thought a moment. "Wait…you said she drives you crazy?" The brothers nodded. "Did she have a white bird with her?" Again they nodded. "I'll talk with her, though I doubt making her leave will be easy."

Al of course had no idea what his brother was talking about but followed out of pure curiosity.

In the living room Dixie was going starry eyed over the tiny owlet but the girl hardly noticed. They both looked up as the boys entered the room and the black hair girl gasped with delight.

"Edward!" she squealed. She charged at him, mirror still in hand and arms opened wide in preparation for a big hug. Thinking it would be the best thing to do, Ed just stood there, prepared to take it but Al jumped in the way, poised to fight.

"Al! What are you doing?"

"Watch out, brother! She's one of _them_." He'd seen the Ouroboris on her arm.

Ed pushed past his brother. "Don't worry. She may be _one_ of them but she's not _with_ them. There's a difference."

"How do you know this?" Al asked, not willing to drop his guard just yet.

"She's the reason I was late when Chanty and Ian brought Einon home."

"You're giving me full details when this is over." Al said, although it was more of a command.

"Sure, right after she leaves – Oof!"

Vanity didn't pay much attention to the dialogue between the brothers and continued with her hug to Edward. "I missed you!"

"Now ask her what she came for so she can leave!" Luke hissed in the Fullmetal's ear. Lucus was right behind him nodding.

"Fine. So, Vanity-"

"Ohhhh!!!!" She squealed. "You said my name!" she squeezed him harder. "I'm so happy!"

"Who's this?" Ian asked, entering with Einon.

"Not sure." Alphonse answered.

"Yes I-I'm sure you are but…c-can you let go of me!?"

She looked at him, trying to figure out why he made such a request. Oblivious to the real reason she released him anyway.

"So why are you here and how did you find out that I came here?" He asked after regaining his breath.

"Latara and I separated not long after our game." She paused, grinning as she recalled the memory of their game of riddles. "She saw you ride off on a strange horse and followed you to this building."

"An owl figured out where he lives?" Mark asked, speaking up for the first time.

Vanity looked at him, she hadn't realized he was there until he spoke. "Latara is a very smart owl and told me where I could find him." She looked him up and down a few times and immediately decided she didn't like him because he didn't look like he could offer her anything.

"So what are you doing now that you found me?" Ed asked.

"Warning you."

"_Warning_?" Steve, Ed, Al, the twins and Mark said together.

"Yes, warning." She nodded, confirming.

"Warning us about what?" Al asked, mentally going over all ways that could be taken, coming from a humunculus.

"Maybe if you stopped asking questions I could get a word in to tell you."

None of the listeners thought of that as too polite but also tried to find her logic in that sentence compared to what had been said previously.

"I came here to warn you about what's going to happen."

They leaned in a little closer, encouraging her to go on without talking.

"He's coming."

"WHO'S COMING!?!?"

She looked at them for a moment; not understanding their confusion. "Owston."

"_**WHAT!?!?!?"**_Everyone exploded.

"Owston is coming."

"He's found us?!" Ed exclaimed.

"He's after Einon." Ian said with very little breath. Einon had gone very pale and stiff.

"Now that I've told you this I get to stay here." Vanity took a seat in the closest chair.

"Oh no you don't!" The twins said together.

"But I helped you." She protested, but sounded like her mind was made up and anyone who said otherwise was an idiot.

"Yes and we appreciate the information…"

"….It's very helpful but…"

"That doesn't mean you can assign yourself to our house."

"But I helped you!" She said again with a bit more power, as though saying it louder would make it easier to understand. "I helped you so you need to give me something in return!"

"Vanity," Steve said. She looked at him. "You know…just because you do something for someone else doesn't always mean that you'll _get_ something for helping them. What you get in return doesn't have to be an object or a service. Often the feeling you get, knowing what you did made someone else happy is enough of a reward for a lot of people. And if you only help someone because you expect a reward then it is no longer a good deed, only a selfish act…" He trailed off, thinking of the last part of his sentence and her name.

"So," Ian cut in. "Your owl followed Ed to this place, on your travels to get here you discovered Owston was coming for my brother and decided to warn us about him." he said, making sure he was on the same page as everyone else.

"I'm not going back there." Einon choked.

Ian put his arm around Einon's shoulder. "Don't worry, you won't."

After a few minutes of negotiation Ed got Vanity to agree that she could stay for a week then would have to leave. And as long as she didn't make it an all-the-time thing she could come to visit.

* * *

Me- I'm getting pretty dry at this preview thing so they're gonna start to get sparse from here on in. 


	20. Chapter 20

"Great, we have to defend the house again for the safety of a family member and Chanty isn't here to help!" Ren exclaimed once the information was relayed to him when he got home.

"Family member?" Einon asked.

"Of course." Mark said. "Once you're accepted into the household that makes you family."

"What about me?" Vanity asked.

"No." The twins said together.

She scowled at them and left the room to explore the rest of the house.

"Think we should tell Mustang about this?" Al asked his brother.

"Probably." Ed answered. "But I can't help but question just how effective that will be."

"What do you mean?"

"Think of it this way, say Owston's men are already around planning the quietest way to get Einon. If soldiers come now to stake out the house, the enemy will most likely know and may not come at all. Either that or they'll launch a full fledged assault in which many are likely to die for the sake of one man."

"If that's the case." Steve said. "And for the moment lets say that it is, knowing that soldiers from Central are on guard Owston's men are likely to maneuver a new plan to get back what they lost." He turned to Einon. "That new maneuver could be anything from, what Ed suggested, not making a direct attack and may resort to ransom to whomever they catch outside the house. I have no doubt that if Owston is anything like Caradon he is very resourceful and planning for anything would prove very difficult."

"So we have to be on guard all the time and don't leave the house?" Clen questioned.

"If that's what it comes to yes."

This wasn't looking good, and of course Vanity didn't have any extra information that might have helped the situation. Even if she did, prying it out of her would be a chore. Ed had an idea and left with Al. He hated to leave when every available mind to think this over was a necessity but he thought it best to inform Mustang just in case he could come up with an angle they hadn't thought of yet.

"Is there anyway we can get in touch Chanty and tell him what's going on?"

"He didn't tell anybody where he was going, Lame! Otherwise we'd have called him already."

"Besides, wouldn't that be a little rude? Interrupting a date? Geesh, Gox, where's your decency?"

"This is life and death, Brody. I think he'll forgive us."

* * *

**Central, later that afternoon**

* * *

"I see." Mustang leaned against the back wall of his office after listening to Ed's story about Einon and how Owston himself may be coming to retrieve him.

"If I may, I'd like to request any assignments that come up that would be given to me be reassigned so I can stay at the manor. With Chanty gone and with no idea when Owston may come for Einon, I'd feel more comfortable if I could be there to help out."

Mustang nodded. "All right. I'll have someone check in on you regularly and you will give him or her a report as to whether anything has happened or if you've noticed anything suspicious. Don't leave the family and whenever anyone leaves on whatever business have either you or Al go with them."

"Yes sir." Edward said. Mustang gave a few more instructions and Ed left.

After the Fullmetal left, Mustang sat in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair.

_Owston_. He thought. _It seems like only yesterday that Caradon's luck ran out and now another gang leader is causing trouble. Only this time, with Caradon gone there are no boundaries. _Mustang's mind went over what Edward had told him about Einon. _How on Earth did he do that?_ The question as to how Owston made physical gemstones just by vocalization was beyond his comprehension.

Knock, knock.

A knock on the door broke the Colonels deep thoughts and growing concern.

"Enter." He said.

Fury followed Havoc into the Flame's office.

"So what is it you two are after?" Mustang asked. His tone was rather flat due to all the thoughts weighing on his mind.

"I know this may sound a bit silly," Fury began. "And it wont take long but we were wondering,"

"If Fury, myself and others could modestly decorate Central's halls." Havoc finished for him.

_Decorate_? Mustang thought.

"It is almost time for the holidays after all." Fury said. "It was just a thought but we were hoping we could hang simple garlands throughout the halls, an occasional wreath on a door…just little things to get the atmosphere into the holiday spirit."

The Colonel didn't realize just how close to December it was. But since there wasn't any harm in making the halls of Central look festive he permitted their request and they left.

_The season really snuck up on me didn't it_. Mustang thought. Looking at a calendar he nodded to himself as it confirmed that December first was tomorrow. _Well, hopefully with the holiday's approaching Edward and his friends can find some cheer even though a dark cloud hangs very near._


	21. Chapter 21

The lovebirds' weekend getaway took place at a cozy little cottage at the base of a mountain. The mountain wasn't really all that huge but a beautiful waterfall cascaded not far from the cottage and a lovely singing stream ran about fifty feet from the front door. The owner of the cottage had driven them to this tiny piece of paradise and agreed to come and pick them up when the weekend was over.

Annie was completely ecstatic when she saw the adorable little house.

"This is for us!?" She had her hands to her mouth and a large childish smile.

"Yep." The Dawn put his hand around her shoulder. "The place is fully stocked with everything we might need, food, running water and we'll be completely alone until Mr. Carter picks us up Sunday afternoon."

Annie's eyes sparkled like a child who received their most wanted gift at Christmas. Mr. Carter helped them get their suitcases inside, wished them the best and drove away.

Immediately Annie was in love with the little house. Inside the decorations were so modest but its simplicity was what made it so adorable. The fireplace had only a small flicker of flame but the entire house seemed to be warmed by it.

"Oh Chanty! This is beautiful! I love it!" She hugged him tightly and he returned the affection.

"I thought you might."

Later that evening Annie was delighted to see that Chanty wasn't lying about the place being fully stocked. A wide variety of dry foods filled the cupboards and even though the pantry was small that was filled with several jars of canned food. So with complete control over the small kitchen Annie blissfully made a meal for two. It was to her great surprise and delight when she was finished and entered the dining room to find the table already set with a few candles flickering gently.

"Chanty you are too sweet." It touched her deeply to see her boyfriend doing such things, no matter how simple to make their weekend enjoyable and romantic.

After their meal they cuddled on the couch in front of the fire. They didn't speak of much but it hardly mattered to Annie. Just sitting with him made her feel warm and safe. Neither knew how long they sat there until Chanty adjusted himself on the couch and saw that the sun had clearly gone to bed a while ago.

"You ready to go to bed?"

"Why?" She cuddled deeper into the warmth of his body. "I'm fine just snuggling here."

He kissed her forehead. "It's time to get some sleep."

"But daddy," She said in a childish voice. "I'm not sleepy!" Annie sat up straighter, kissed him back and got up to get into her nightdress.

When Annie came out of the bedroom Chanty was fluffing up a pillow on the couch. She hardly noticed the pillow though since his shirt was off.

"I know you're staring at me." He looked up and grinned.

"Can you blame me?" She asked. "I don't imagine that a lot of girls have a boyfriend with the body of a Greek god."

The Dawn's hand went to his chest, fingertips touching the scar on his chest, the one Donavan's more violent chimeras gave him. "You think that?"

"Chanty, if you were any hotter the house would catch fire."

"I…I really do not know how to respond to that. Except that I wouldn't fancy many men have girlfriends who's faces would make Aphrodite cringe with jealousy."

Annie felt her face flush and a tingling warmth filled her chest. _Chanty must have felt the same when I made that comment to him._ She thought.

The Dawn walked over to her, kissed her forehead and wished her goodnight before going back to the couch.

The next morning Annie woke with a little shiver. She sat up with her blanket around her shoulders and looked around the room. Outside the sun was submitting it's first beams of light to the world. Thinking Chanticleer might already be up she put on her slippers and got out of bed.

_Everything looks strangely white_. She thought. _Must be fog from the stream._

Annie quietly opened the door, to her surprise Chanty was still asleep. Smiling she tip-toed closer and kneeled next to him, wondering how long he would sleep with her there.

He had his back turned to the fire and the blanket had slipped to his waist, letting his feathers hang loose. Annie sat on the arm of the couch near his head and she smiled. He looked so handsome even asleep. Noting that the fire had all but died she relit it as quietly as she could. Upon turning around she saw something that before now she had only heard about.

Chanticleer's transmutation scar.

True, she'd seen him shirtless before but not from behind for any length of time to have noticed the generous gift of the night he became a chimera. Assaulted with a wave of curiosity Annie wanted to touch it. With her fingertips she caressed the markings of the scarred flesh.

"That tickles."

She recoiled her hand as though she'd been bitten.

"Chanty, I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"I don't think so." He said with his voice full of sleep. He rolled over and looked her. "You know you're really beautiful in the morning?"

She stroked his face with the back of her hand. "My prince charming."

The Dawn propped himself up on his elbows. "I can get breakfast ready if you want."

"It's alright, you just take your time." Annie regretted volunteering herself the second the words left her mouth. If he did it then she'd get so see him in just his sweatpants all morning.

He arched his back and stretched as she got up to go to the kitchen. "You sleep well?" The Dawn asked before yawning.

"Yes I did." Annie answered. "It's clear that you did too." She turned, looking for a utensil and her gaze met the window. For a moment she did nothing, processing what she was seeing.

"It snowed!" Annie leapt to the window and pressed her hands to the glass.

"Figured it would." Chanty got up and put another piece of wood on the fire, acting as though nothing unusual was going on.

"You knew it would snow?" Annie asked, now standing behind the couch, getting more and more excited about the first snowfall.

"No. I just new it was likely. It is December after all."

"Wow. I hadn't even noticed that much time has gone by. I guess we'll have to stay inside until tomorrow."

"Why's that?"

"Well winter means cold."

"No worries." He told her. After putting on his usual black tank top he picked up a suitcase that had previously gone unnoticed. From inside he pulled two weather-appropriate coats and laid them over the back of the couch, along with mittens and scarves (just to be safe). "So," he said looking up. "Do you want to take a walk by the river after breakfast?"

The way he said it made Annie's heart melt. Chanticleer was being so sweet, had thought of all the variables and prepared for them just to make sure she enjoyed herself.

"I'd love to."

* * *

I'm not sure if you'd call that a lousy ending or not but I've had a bad cramp all day so even the slightest thing will pass for me. Sorry that I haven't updated in a while (for those who are faithful readers I fully appreciate you all) school has been crazy and when I get down time I find myself directing it somewhere else. So bear with me, support and a few extra hours sleep every day is what I really need. 


	22. Chapter 22

A thin layer of snow now covered the world and evenings and mornings were becoming much cooler. Although it didn't erase the memory of his weekend, Chanticleer would have preferred to come home and be told better news than that their house might be attacked again.

"And who told you this?" The Dawn asked again.

"Someone we can trust." Ed answered.

"That doesn't ease my worries any."

After a second thought Edward reasoned it would be best if Chanty knew about Vanity so he told his friend the whole story.

"And your taking her word solely on this?"

"Like I said, I believe she can be trusted."

"Think of it this way, would you rather not trust her and then find out she was telling the truth?" Al asked.

Since there was no denying it, The Dawn didn't answer.

* * *

A Few Weeks Later

"Any news from Edward or Chanticleer?" Riza Hawkeye asked the Colonel as they walked down a hallway together.

"No, I haven't. They seem to have their situation in hand and haven't reported anything suspicious." He replied. "But shouldn't you be more concerned with something just as important?"

Hawkeye turned her head. "I'm afraid I don't understand, sir."

Mustang chuckled a little. "Tomorrow's Christmas eve. Surely you have plans to go somewhere or visit someone."

"In fact I do. And old friend is in town for a while and she asked if I would spend Christmas day her and her family."

The Flame nodded. "I'm not doing anything to spectacular. Hughes wants me to stop by for dinner tomorrow but I have a feeling…" He trailed off.

"What's the matter, sir?" Hawkeye asked puzzled, hardly realizing that they'd stopped walking. The Colonels eyes were tilted at a slight angle up from were they standing. Curious the lieutenant looked up too.

In the doorway someone had strung up a strand of mistletoe. Once Riza registered what she was looking at almost everything in her mind went blank.

Mustang looked at her with a charming smile and I'm sure reader, you can guess the rest.

* * *

I know it is very short but it was the only transition I could think of on short notice in order to maybe put up a Christmas section. They'll probably be really long because i dont want to dedicate a lot of chapters to this.

Just assume that the occupants of YoYo Manor are preparing for Christmas as well as keeping an eye out for possible threats from Vanity's warning. Christmas eve and Christmas Day, the Elrics were invited to stay the night as well.

Upcoming! Christmas day at Yoyo Manor!


	23. Chapter 23

The Dawn Alchemist opened his eyes to greet the morning. He was still a little groggy so he didn't even bother sitting up. On the contrary he considered closing his eyes again and seeing if he could go back to sleep. It was just dark enough that he couldn't make out the hands on the clock, but the time wasn't important anyway. It felt good to be in his warm bed and that was all that registered as important.

Just when he felt himself begin to float back to dreamland, Chanticleer heard a soft, _pat pat pat_, go quickly down the hallway. Still at the point in the morning where a man could be standing over you with a knife and you not care, he decided to ignore it. A few seconds later the _pat pat pat _returned and was soon followed by a door click and a squeal of delight.

Just as he was beginning to get curious about what was going on outside his door, the door swung open and a little body darted in and jumped on his chest.

"It's Chwistmas Day!" the little fox girl bounced on him and rolled around on his bed. "Get up! Get up! Pwesents!"

"Dixie!" Chanty was unable to say anything aside from her name. She had already zipped out his room to wake up the twins across the hall.

Ren poked his head around the doorframe. "Sorry about that." He said. "I tried to stop her but she took off."

"What time is it?" Chanticleer sat up and ran his fingers through his hair, even though that wouldn't help him wake up.

"A little after six."

"You're kidding…"

"Hey, where Annie?" Dixie tugged on the back of the tank top Ren wore to bed.

"I don't know. I don't keep tabs on her at all times."

At that point almost everyone was up or was getting up. Upon Dixie's urging, it was agreed to do presents first. Ed protested at first because he was hungry but he was told to stuff it to make the kid happy. So even with a slight gurgle in his stomach he didn't say another word about it.

Dixie was spinning in circles around the Christmas tree making squeals and giggles of joy, her nightdress twirling like a ball gown.

"Come on, come on!" She urged, her face aglow with a smile.

"Just be patient for a few more minutes, ok? Gox hasn't even come down yet." Ren was glad to see his sister so happy.

"So what do we owe the pleasure of you giving us all a jumpstart to our morning, Dixie? The presents would still be there even if you had stayed in bed another hour." Lame said. He loved his sleep.

"That actually is my fault." Brody said.

"You told her to get us up early?" Ian asked through a yawn.

"I was going to get you all up anyway." Brody answered. "I thought it would be fun for Dixie too so I got her up to help me."

"Why does it matter anyway?" Einon asked. "Childhood Christmas memories are special."

"What's that smell?" Clen asked.

Everyone paused and sniffed.

"That smells good!" Ian said.

"Is someone in the kitchen?" Mark asked.

"Yes." From the kitchen Annie's Al's voices answered.

Ed went to the kitchen to investigate but Al appeared and blocked the way. "Annie's orders, no one's allowed in."

"_**You**_ were in."

"Yes, but _I_ was helping."

"I'll be out in a minute." Annie said.

"KUN!"

"I think your sister's getting impatient." Luke said.

No kidding. Dixie's excitement was just about to boil over. Brody was excited too and of course, the twins (who were still kids at heart) wanted the exchanging of gifts to commence quickly.

"All right everyone." Steve said. "Lets organize first. Bring over that couch so that we can all sit in a circle. After that we can distribute presents and take turns opening them."

"Sounds a little childish doesn't it?" Lame asked.

"Tsk, tsk. My dear Lame, it's Christmas, everything goes." Lucus said.

Chanticleer felt his stomach tingle. The way his uncle described the morning plan was exactly how he and his parents spent Christmas morning in his home town. The Dawn could only remember spending Christmas day with Steve once, but he never forgot it. Christmas with his family was shared with the families of his friends as well. No one ever got a lot of presents but the children were happy all the same. The plan Steve laid out was familiar to Brody, Mark and the twins too. Even though they hadn't been able to really do that in a long time, favorite traditions are hard to forget.

Lame and Einon turned and moved one of the couches while Ren shifted a chair.

"What's that I smell?" Gox asked, finally coming downstairs from the attic.

"Annie's baking something I guess." Chanty answered.

"Whatever it is, it has a lot of sugar!" Clen exclaimed.

Gox went to sit down.

"Goxlin don't!" Steve tried to stop him,

_Thump!_

…but it was too late.

"Who moved the couch!?!" Goxlin snapped from the floor where the couch should have been.

"We moved it so we could all sit around for presents. Now get up, you're not hurt." Einon said. Clak…clak. Two gems fell from his lips.

Dixie was in full agreement. She wrapped her little hands around Gox's elongated fingers and tugged him to the couch. Brody was starting to have a hard time keeping his impatience under the lid. It was Christmas morning for crying out loud! When were the festivities going to start!

Annie finally came out of the kitchen. Chanticleer looked her over. Even in her powder blue nightgown and with her hair simply pulled back she looked beautiful.

"I'm ready." She said. "I just put them in the oven."

"Them?" Ed asked.

"You'll see." She winked.

Everyone chose a place to sit on the couches, chairs and the floor. Dixie was given the task of taking the gifts Steve handed her and give them to their respected receiver. Not wanting to be left out, Brody helped too.

"This is our first real Christmas in a really long time, isn't it?" Einon said to his brother, staring at the golden wrapped gift on his lap.

Ian was thinking the same thing as his first present was given to him.

The gift sorting didn't take more than a few minutes. Dixie hurried back to her place next to Ren and clapped her hands gleefully at the sight of her pile of bright gifts.

Ren leaned closer to her furry ear and whispered. "Do you want to open one of yours first?"

She squealed and kicked her feet rapidly before snatching a box of the top and began picking at the corners of the wrapping.

"So are we going around in a circle or what?" Annie asked.

"I'm fine with that." Steve answered. "I don't mind being last."

"That's a good thing." Chanticleer teased, grinning at his uncle. "If we were going by age you'd be last anyway."

"Mind your manners young man." Steve retorted in a similar tone. Chanty smiled.

"Before we get too deep into this," Al said. "I just want everyone to know that I've got something for everyone outside once we're all done in here."

Ed looked at him quizzically. Outside? What could he be planning outside?

"I don't know how long I'll be able to be apart of it, whatever it is."

"What do you mean, Gox?"

The bat boy held out a hand and flexed the lengthened fingers. "I have nothing to keep my hands warm, no gloves will fit me and even most mittens are too short."

Nobody noticed Clen grinning.

"Kun!!!"

The fox girl had finally managed to get the item out of its casing. She sat there beaming at the tiny snow globe in her hands. It featured two little angel girls riding down a hill on a sled and when shaken; sparkling dove and snowflake cutouts swirled and floated around.

"Dixie," Ren whispered to her again. "That one's from Mark." He had wisely chosen to take a look at who the gift was from before the wrapping had been torn away and forgotten.

Dixie zipped from her place; snow globe still clutched tightly in one hand, to Mark and jumped on him, embracing most of his torso in a big hug.

"What's still under the tree?" Edward asked as Ren began opening his first gift. From what he could see, there was at least two other packages that had not been sorted.

"Those will be for later." Steve answered.

Everyone had opened one present and it was once again Dixie's turn. She could hardly hold in her excitement as she tried to be patient until it was her turn again. She chose an oddly shaped gift that was tied up with pink and green ribbons. She couldn't get the knots undone so Steve offered his pocketknife to Ren. Once the ribbons were out of the way, Dixie tore away the tissue paper and squealed with delight at such a pitch Goxlin felt as if a nail had been dug in his ear and Clen wondered if any dogs outside were barking.

"KUUUUUN!!!!" She snatched what looked like a stuffed animal into a gigantic bear hug. It was hard to tell what the thing was exactly because her arms were smothering it.

"What is it, Dixie?" Ian asked her.

With genuine stars in her eyes, Dixie held out the item at arms length for everyone to see. It was a stuffed fox posed in a sitting position. After giving everyone a brief glance she devoured it in a hug again.

"What are you going to call it?" Al asked. It was so cute to watch her.

"His name is Vic." She answered quickly, still snuggling the little animal.

"_Vic_?" Ed asked, skeptical of her decision. "Why Vic?"

"I like it."

"I have no idea where she pulled that one from." Ren leaned next to Lame and whispered.

_Sounds a little silly_. Ed thought to himself.

* * *

Just for those who were wondering, I did not name Dixie's stuffed fox Vic after Edward's voice actor (I say that instead of his name because I can never spell it right). I actually have a little stuffed fox of my own I named Vic when I got him I'd wager ten years ago, and that was inspired from a REALLY old movie called, A Little Fox. I apologize for the length but endure it for the next chapter two. In that one I'll put in more about some of the gifts everyone else gets.

MERRY (belated) CHRIST MAS!!!!!!!


	24. Chapter 24

Edward was hardly expecting to receive anything so he was curious about the three small presents that Dixie had laid at his feet. He had skipped a turn because he had so few but Al wanted to see what his brother had got. Alphonse himself didn't have anything, but what could you give suit of armor? He understood that so he didn't hold it against anyone. Ed's first gift was a thin brown box tied up with purple ribbon, marked, **From: The Twins.** Reading that made him scared to open it. Opening it put his fears to rest. Inside was pair of black gloves similar to his own. Only difference was that these were an insanely rich shade of black and on the side was a single thin stripe of iridescent crimson thread.

"Figured if you needed anything that might be good,"

"For formal dress, those might help some."

This was true. The Fullmetal really didn't have any "formal" attire. Even though the times he'd been to places that would require it were frighteningly low. Still, now that he had something the opportunity might arise so he could wear them.

Clen handed Gox one of his presents and Gox somehow managed to get the ribbon tangled around his fingers pretty good. Clen helped his friend out of the ribbon and Goxlin fingered with the contents of the tiny box.

"Earrings?" He asked, fingering the small wire-trapped stone.

"Like this." Annie slipped from her spot and sat next to Gox. Goxlin sat still as she took the ornament from his hand. He had no idea where she was going with this, he'd never had his ears pierced before and didn't plan on it either. Wait a minute! He felt her slide the needle through his left ear but felt no pain.

"What?" he put his hand up to his ear, confused as to why the earring was securely in place. "I don't have an ear piercing so how are you doing that!?"

"Yes you do." Annie said. "It wasn't on purpose but you do."

The answer slapped him in the face. The rattlesnake in the desert! The bite marks from its fangs never completely healed shut. It was now Marks turn. His was in a large rectangular box and he commented that it was very heavy. With a little bit of struggle he peeled the item from the box.

"What on earth! You've got to be kidding!" He balanced on his thigh a rich black hourglass that stood about a foot high. The feet of the glass were mouth-gaping gargoyles, four on the top and bottom. The sand of the glass was also dyed a rich shade of ebony. "I have no idea what I'm going to do with this but it's awesome!" He turned the glass over and watched as the ebony sand trickled into the empty compartment.

"It's great that everyone is enjoying what they got so far." Alphonse said after the circle had made another round. He was glad to see everyone so happy.

"You will too." Chanticleer said.

"What? There's something for me?" The thought of him getting a Christmas present made him bubble with joy.

"Gox, is it still upstairs?"

Goxlin nodded but was hardly listening. He was smiling flexing his fingers within the thick pair of gloves he'd received from Clen. The pair had been custom made with longer fingers so Gox could actually wear them.

The Dawn smiled slyly. "Don't feel like you have to wait for me, I'll be right back." With that he went upstairs.

Annie was next. "Oh!" she sighed after she could see beyond the paper. She held the item and stood up with it. It was a bright pink silk nightdress. The subtle frills on the sleeves, neckline and bottom of the dress were a pale lavender. Roses were sewn around the lower part of the dress in matching lavender. "Steve this is beautiful!" She breathed. She went over to him with a hug followed by a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm glad you like it." Steve said in a very fatherly tone.

Clen followed. When he chose a small box, Dixie perked up. Clen guessed from the excessive amount of tape and poorly tied ribbon the little box was from Dixie. When he got the lid off the box he wasn't sure how to react to what was inside. Lame looked over Clen's shoulder and started laughing. Dixie had made him a little collar made of wide green ribbon and a tiny, but functional golden bell. Clen wasn't too thrilled but he obviously couldn't say that. But he did have a sense of dignity too! He didnt plan on showing it to everyone but Dixie crawled to his side and tied it around his neck for him. But he only had one choice. Grin and bear it to make the kid happy. After all, how could you reject something like that from a six year old?

"I'm back." Chanticleer announced. He had a white and yellow hatbox tied with a blue ribbon under one arm. "Al," He said, holding out the box to his friend. "This is to you from me."

Al assumed the typical excited anime position, his eyes large and watery with happy tears. The colorful hatbox was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen and it was just for him! He took it happily, but when he pulled the ribbon was almost pulled off, the lid moved. Al stopped. It moved again. He was leery but that didn't stop him from unwrapping the gift. Al lifted the lid just a hair and was greeted with a pair of bright, gray-green eyes. Al made a noise like a squeak as his eyes continued sparkling with delight and he picked up the furry kitten from the box. Al couldn't say anything. His heart was too busy filling up with love and adoration for the adorable kitten he had always wanted and now finally had.

"I saw her and I thought of you." The Dawn said casually.

"Chanticleer I love you!!!" Alphonse zipped cross the living room and embraced The Dawn in an iron grip bear hug, the fluffy kitten on his shoulder and happy anime tears streaming. "She's perfect! I can't thank you enough!"

Dixie saw the cute kitty and wanted to pet it too. Edward of course wasn't too pleased and reacted as he usually did.

"You put that thing…!" Dixie turned to him, curious as to why he would be taking up such a harsh tone bout something so cute. "…on my lap. I want to hold it too." He recovered quickly.

"Oh Brother, really!?!?" Al missed Ed's true tone but handed him his new kitty anyway. The Fullmetal looked down at the fuzzy animal and it looked up at him. Its fur was long and a nice mix of gray, cream and white, but it was primarily gray.

The circle of gifts made a few more rounds before Annie came to her last gift, it was from Einon. Again, she gasped in awe at the contents of the present. Inside was a pair of gold colored slippers that looked as if they belonged to an Arab princess. The toes were pointed up, it was sewn with gold thread and the top was completely inlaid with blue and purple gems. Annie could hardly make out a word.

"How did you do that?" Ian asked his brother.

"I found a guy in town a while ago that makes a variety of different shoes." Einon said, catching two quarts stones as they fell from his lips. "I wrote in an order for a pair of slippers in great detail along with a large jar of sapphires and amethyst stones. I told him that once he finished according to my order, he could keep the remaining stones as payment."

Annie glided and danced gently on her way to the kitchen wearing her beautiful slippers. Whatever she was working on earlier was finished. The twins got a pair of jackets that were the same pattern but different colors.

"I remember one year we asked for things that didn't match." Luke said.

"That didn't look alike or come in a pair. We were sick of adults cooing,"

"Over us because we looked so adorable' in our matching sweaters or hats."

"Although our adorability was something we never grew out of." Lucus added.

Lame opened a heavier gift and inside was a pewter statue of two wild mustangs rearing at each other. Steve opened his last gift next. The long present turned out to be an intricate walking stick. The top was an eagles head and the shaft was carved with feathers and Native American symbols. Beneath the eagle's head a beaded leather string was tied, a feather dangled on each end.

"Is everyone done?" Mark asked.

"Almost." Chanty and Steve said together. Neither of them were expecting the other to answer. The Dawn pulled out a present he had hidden for Annie. Once she pulled off the lid and moved the inner wrapping inside, she froze, her face blank. Her mouth was open slightly in what looked like a silent gasp. After a few seconds she seemed to come back to life and slowly reached into the thin box to take out the item inside.

She pulled out a large, silver hand held mirror. The outer rim of the mirror was decorated with a wide assortment of designs and swirls, a butterfly with its wings open sat on the top. The handle looked as if someone's braid had been coated in silver. More little butterflies were scattered about the handle as well. If that wasn't good enough, the rim was covered with jewels. And at the very end of the handle was inlaid a spherical diamond the size of a walnut. Everyone who saw the masterpiece was in complete awe. The Dawn had used alchemy to create the piece. He had reshaped a thin slab of silver and designed it as he imagined it. The jewels and the mirror were placed on the silver during this process and simply sunk into the silver, incapable of ever coming stood behind the couch and leaned over her, reaching into the forgotten box. From it he pulled out two decorative combs. They were made from pyrite so they looked gold, but were shaped and inlaid with jewels the same way as the mirror. One was a flower the other was a butterfly. He played with her hair for a second before tucking the flower one gently above Annie's ear. Annie tried to see the ornament in her beautiful mirror, but her vision was becoming clouded with tears.

"Merry Christmas, Annie." He whispered.

Chanticleer hardly knew what hit him next. Annie discarded the mirror on the couch, spun around like lightning, grabbed him around the neck and planted him with a long kiss on the mouth.

"Once those two detach, I have something for everyone." Steve said. He reached for a large box far back behind the tree. He sat in the middle of the makeshift circle, the package on his lap. Everyone gathered close, curious about what he had.

He opened the lid, inside, laid neatly were an array of blown glass ornaments. Steve passed around each one to whom it was intended. For Lame there was a pony lying down with a wreath around its neck, Clen, an orange stripped kitten, sleeping and tangled in a ball of yarn. Gox had a bat wearing a Santa hat and from wingtip to wingtip it held a streamer reading, _Merry Christmas_. Ian's was a butter colored puppy sitting next to a green and red present and Einons was an eagle. Ren had a firefly resting on a leaf and Dixie's was a sitting kit, its head cocked quizzically to the Santa hat on its head. Annie was given a scarlet macaw with its wings spread wide. Brody's was an open book being read by a mouse. Mark's was a small green snake coiled around a candy cane. Al adored his; it was a white kitten inside a blue box, a large bow tied around its neck.

"Mine's a sandwich! That is so cool!" Luke held his up and started laughing.

"Oh yeah! Beat mine. It's a waffle!" Lucus pointed to his, also laughing.

Chanty held his tenderly in one hand. It was (as one could guess) a majestically colored rooster. Its wings were to its sides but its head was pulled back, beak open. The trait that stood firm with all of the ornaments was that they were smothered with glitter! They sparkled just as radiantly as a winter morning. Ed looked in the box, hoping to find one for him. But it was empty. Noticing his put out look, Steve smiled and put down the box.

"What is intended especially for you isn't an ornament." He said.

The Fullmetal was confused. Steve pointed to the tree. There was still one lonely present waiting to be opened in the back. Ed pointed to himself.

"That's for me?"

Steve nodded. Edward's movement to the tree was hardly noticed. Everyone was looking at everyone else's ornaments and Al was especially busy with his kitten. Ed stood in the back, taking the simple wrapping off the box. There was no name to indicate who it was from. When he opened it, he only got a brief glimpse before jolting upstairs. He didn't know why he wanted to keep it hidden, but he….did. At the top of the stairs he took out his present, from Winry. It was a framed photo of the three of them as kids. The gesture was so small, but it felt good to be thought of. Not knowing what made him do it, he flipped it over. Stuck within the back of the frame was a note.

_Hi, Ed. _

_Its been quite a while since we've seen each other and I just want you to know that I miss you. But I know why we're apart and I'm proud that you haven't given up on your quest. I found this picture while going through some old things. I was surprised it looked so new despite its age. I'd really like it if the three of us could take another soon, to show where we are now. It's been so long and I would like to start making as many memories with you and Al as I can, even if they're subtle._

_Wishing you a very Merry Christmas._

_Winry._

The Fullmetal read it through two more times. It hardly sounded like the Winry he knew at all. But it made him feel at ease somehow. Planning on reading it through a third time, he tugged it from the frame. Only when he did something else fell to the floor. Edward stared at it, trying to figured out what it was. When he did, he continued staring.

A train ticket.

Another was still wedged in the frame.

Two train tickets that would be leaving that afternoon so that he could see Winry for Christmas.

Edward hardly noticed the single tear that slid down his cheek.

"Hey Ed! What are you doing up there! Annie's made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and after that Al's treating us to ice skating!"

The Fullmetal lip twitched into what would have been a smile. He picked up the ticket and put it with the other before closing the picture within the box. Steve was the only one left in the living room when he descended the stairs.

"Was it worth it?" He asked.

"Al and I are going Resembool this afternoon." Ed said as if nothing was wrong. He didn't notice the slight quiver in his voice but Steve did. The older man nodded and turned for the kitchen.

The Fullmetal Alchemist placed the package gently on an endtable. He didn't remove his hand though. He wasn't sure why. Was it because of the contents? Because of what it was and who it was from? Could it be where it would lead him? It hardly mattered. The one thing he did know, that was completely and firmly absolute, was that this had been, indeed, a very merry Christmas.

* * *

~pant...pant~ I really feel physically exhausted. I've been working on this for FOREVER! Finally! it's done! hopefully this will open the floodgates to continue with the actual plot without any more roadblocks.

also, sorry for the length. i didnt want several chapters be Christmas related so I had no choice but to make it up with length.


End file.
